Infinite Madness
by BlazingPhoenix17
Summary: Nobody knows why the Infinite Stratos technology refuses to recognize males as adequate pilots for its mechs, not even the inventor. Quantum tech is strange like that. But a random event in a storeroom at the IS Academy takes this long held rule and throws it right out the window. The cost is very high though, especially for the poor sucker who's dragged into this female madhouse.
1. Chapter 1

Infinite Madness

Chapter 1

A bright flash of light raced across the dark room, nearly blinding the three people standing within. Loud mechanical whirring noises sounded from the source of the light, the large device unfolding and growing taller as it activated. The two security guards who had come in investigating a suspicious sound gaped in shock as they saw the previously inactive mechanized armor stand up and open up its hatch for its new pilot.

This by itself would not have been too much of a shock for them, as they had known this particular Infinite Stratos mech was fully combat capable and was in storage waiting for delivery. What surprised them was the person who had activated it. They both stared at the young teen that stood close to the machine, mystified as to how this was possible. "Did he just activate the IS?" one of the guards asked aloud.

"But that's impossible," her partner replied. "No male has ever been able to pilot an IS before. It shouldn't be responding to him."

For his part the boy was completely still, seemingly just as startled by the event as they were, but that was only part of his confusion. While he was staring at the mech in just as much awe as the two women behind him, the reason for his reaction delved far deeper than the impossibility of his gender. In fact, young Frank Martin didn't hear the guard's conversation at all, as his brain was moving on its own track trying to justify the sight before him.

_What's going on here? Where am I? What is that thing doing?_ Frank's hand fell to his side as his computations ran their course. _Okay, this thing is definitely some kind of machine, but I've never seen or heard anything like it before. Therefore it must not be real. I must be dreaming._ This thought calmed the boy immensely, and he felt his shoulders loosen as he smiled. _A dream with a mech in it. That's new._

A hand clamped down and Frank's shoulder and flipped him around, alerting the boy to the fact that two other people were in the room. Some small part of Frank's mind wondered at fact that both guards, and they were obviously guards with their stark white uniforms and matte black batons, were women, but he wrote that off as his subconscious lust talking. _Hopefully this won't try to be a wet dream. Those always fail miserably for me._

The lecherous thoughts faded as he heard one of the guards ask, "Did you activate that IS?"

Frank's eyebrows twitched up at this. "I guess," he responded hesitantly. "But what's an IS anyways?"

Both women stared at him in bewilderment, one of them managing to stutter out, "How can you not know that? Infinite Stratos mechs are the most important technology ever invented."

One of them scrutinized him further and suddenly shouted, "You're Ichika Orimura! Chifuyu's younger brother! She was one of the best IS pilots ever. There's no way you couldn't know about IS's."

Frank, understandably freaked out by the women's outburst cried out, "I have a sister?"

The guards gazed at him in concern now, his lack of knowledge beginning to worry them. The one on the left, who's name tag said Tamicha, swiveled back and forth between the large mech standing at idle and the confused young Frank, as if some idea was beginning to form from them. A look of realization appeared on her face as she turned to her partner and said, "He must have amnesia. Maybe activating the IS messed with his memories or something."

The other woman, Ramina by name, looked to Frank and asked, "Do you know who are?"

Frank looked back at the two women and realized with horror that he was not dreaming. No dream of his was ever this coherent. _This is real._ Thinking quickly, Frank decided to save the truth of his knowledge until he found someone in a position of authority, so that maybe he could find a way back home before this waking nightmare could continue. "I guess not. I mean I don't even know where we are. Or how I got here. Or what that thing is. Or why we are still standing here since you now know I know nothing."

Tamicha gaped at Frank in confusion, but Ramina nodded in comprehension and said, "Come on. Let's get him to Chifuyu. She's closest."

With that, the two guards gently guided Frank out into the corridor and marched him down the hall, leaving the mech behind them in stasis. Frank used this time to try and piece together what had happened to him. Looking back at his last memories he searched for anything out of the ordinary, a headache, an upset stomach, a weird rash. He didn't know! Sadly nothing came to mind, and Frank was completely stumped. _Maybe it's just bad luck. _He snorted at that. _Bull. Fucking. Shite! Bad luck does not _begin_ to describe this._ He sighed in resignation and gave up on trying to make sense of anything regarding his apparent universe swap.

As he continued down the hallway following the two guards, he thought back to what they had said about the machine he had appeared in front of. Something about an 'IS' and mechs and impossible activation… something. Frank couldn't help but wonder why they would name the world's most advanced weapon system after a Soviet heavy tank from WW2. _They should have used a German name. German is an awesome language._

Frank was jolted from his thoughts as the two guards knocked on a door and ushered themselves in. As the boy entered he noticed the large floor to ceiling windows lining one side, giving the room's occupants an unobstructed view of the city beyond. This proved to be worthless though as Frank didn't recognize any of the architecture, so he still had no idea where he was. The room itself was very spartan, with only a single desk and some chairs sitting in front of it. The person behind the desk was holding most of Frank's attention. The apparent owner of this office was a young woman with shiny black hair hanging down past her shoulders and had a stare of such intensity that Frank swore it could burn through steel. Gulping loudly as he entered the two guards gently pushed him forward until they were standing right in front of the desk. Ramina stepped up and leaned forward, her hands cupped in some odd gesture. "Miss Orimura, forgive us for disturbing you, but we thought it best to come to you immediately."

The woman nodded sternly and turned to Frank, who felt himself wilting under her glare. "And just what trouble did my brother get into this time?"

_This is my sister? Damn I really wish she wasn't. _His eyes subtlety shifted down his sister's frame. _For more reasons than one._

Tamicha shook her head and replied, "No trouble, or at least nothing dangerous, but he's done something that should be impossible. He activated an IS we had in storage down the hall."

There was a brief flash of shock on Miss Orimura's face as she digested this news, then her face returned to its impenetrable mask. "Are you certain of this?"

Both women nodded in affirmation while Ramina said, "Yes ma'am. We saw him do it. He was the only one in the room besides us, and it only activated when he touched it."

Orimura appeared to ponder this for several moments before turning to Frank again and asking, "Any idea how this could have happened Ichicha?"

Frank angled his head in confusion. "Ichika? Who's that?" The boy paused as his brain caught up with him and he realized, "Wait is that supposed to be my name? Does that mean I'm Japanese?"

This time the confusion and concern on Miss Orimura's face stayed a great deal longer and her voice carried a hint of worry as she said, "What? Ichika what happened?"

Tamicha stepped up and said quickly, "We think he may have amnesia, possibly from activating the IS. We have no idea how he did it so anything is possible."

Orimura stared hard at Frank, who again felt far too exposed under her stare for his liking, before she turned to the guards and ordered, "Go and inform the school board of what has occurred, but leave Ichika here. I need to find out how much he remembers."

The two women nodded and swiftly left the room, closing the door loudly as they left. A small part of Frank wished he were going with them, and not staying here to be further scrutinized by the scary lady behind the desk. Sighing, Frank turned and sat in one of the chairs at a gesture from Miss Orimura, trying to bite down his fear of the unknown. The two sat in silence for some time, Frank desperately resisting the urge to squirm. He really didn't like how this intimidating woman was staring him down, as if daring him to slip up.

Eventually Frank couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Well, this is awkward isn't it?"

The woman, whose name Frank recognized as Chifuyu from the name plate on her desk, narrowed her eyes at him even further until they were barely more than slits. _Is she part cat or something?_ Then the woman spoke, saying, "You're not Ichika, are you?" When Frank started rubbing his hair awkwardly in embarrassment she said, "Even if Ichika were to lose his memory, he would know better than to try and be cheeky with me. You, however, don't seem to care. So who are you, and why are you in Ichika's body?"

Frank stared at her in bemusement and responded, "Straight to the point eh? Guess there's no fooling you about me not being your brother. Oh well. Perhaps it's for the best." Frank cleared his throat and said, "My name is Frank Martin. I'm 16 years old and I have absolutely no idea how I got here. One moment I was asleep, the next I'm standing in front of this huge machine that stands up all on its own out of nowhere. No explanation at all." He paused to check Chifuyu's reaction but her face remained blank. A bit nonplussed at the granite woman he was speaking with Frank said, "My guess is something happened when your brother touched that mech that caused me to be brought here. Scientifically that should be impossible, but the universe sometimes likes to do its own thing, regardless of our puny human science. So yeah, that's me and why I'm here, though I don't think either of us are ever going to be happy with that answer for very long."

Chifuyu remained silent for some time, alternatively staring at Frank and weirding him out in the process or at one of the pictures on her desk. Finally she leaned back in her chair; her mind apparently made up, and started speaking. "So in summary: My brother touched an IS, which caused it to activate, and by some bizarre happenstance removed him from his body and replaced his mind with yours. You arrived, having no prior knowledge of these events and were immediately taken to my office. Is that correct?"

Frank found he could do little but nod.

Chifuyu pursed her lips and said, "Were I anyone else, or you for that matter anyone else, I would say you are lying through your teeth or just plain insane for trying to give out such a cock bull story. Unfortunately for me, and fortunately for you, I am me. Someone who has seen the world change multiple times, and even been the source of that change more than once. Were I just about anyone else on the planet, I would not believe you. But I do. So no matter how weird this story of yours may sound, right now it's the only thing that makes sense. With that in mind, let's talk about your future."

Frank tried to hold in his sigh of relief but failed. The fact that he didn't have to spend the next few hours or days trying to prove himself was a major boon. He kept silent though, waiting to hear exactly what his new sister had in mind for him.

Chifuyu leaned back forward, grabbing a pile of documents from her desk and started flipping through them as she spoke. "Despite the fact that I believe your story, it would be safe to assume that very few other people would. Even if they don't believe that though, there remains the fact that you are now in the place of someone who did not have the easiest of lives anyway. You being my sibling already put you in danger in the past, and now you being the world's very first male IS pilot does not make things any easier. As it stands you are going to be a very likely target for multiple terrorist groups and corporations around the world, which means we have to find a safe place for you to stay while we figure this out. The best answer in this case would be to enroll you as a student here at the IS academy so that you can learn how to be an IS pilot. Even a short time learning how to use an IS would make you immune to most forms of attack by default. While here at the school you should be safe from most threats as well as within easy access of me at any time, seeing as I'm one of the school administrators."

Frank just kept nodding his head as his mind ran into overdrive. _I can't believe this! Not only am I apparently stuck in this new… place, but now I find out that me simply being here makes me a target. On the plus side, it seems like I get to pilot that mech I saw back there, and if anything could be more awesome than that, I can't really think off it. _The now excited boy sat up in his chair and asked, "What sort of things would I be learning here at school?"

Chifuyu cracked a slight smile and her tone descended into an even deeper deadpan than before. "The IS Academy offers the very best in education in training of IS pilots for students from all over the world. While studying at the Academy students will be taught the basics of piloting there is, tactics and strategies for use in battle, as well as the various rules and regulations that apply in the sports and tournaments available to graduates." The older woman smirked to herself as she said, "I knew there was a reason they had us memorize that stupid speech. In short kid, this school will teach you how to use your IS to best of its ability, which would put you many miles ahead of just about any modern military on the planet. Sound good to you?"

Frank sat with his mouth hanging open as he absorbed this. When he eventually regained control of himself he stammered, "So I'm going to learn how to be a super badass mech driver?" At Chifuyu's answering nod Frank leapt out his chair with a very loud whoop. "Oh YES! This is so awesome I can't even put it into words. This just… YES!"

Chifuyu seemed very surprised at Frank's outburst, her hands on the arms of her seat in preparation to stand. She thought better of it though and relaxed into her chair. "Well, that certainly wasn't the reaction I was expecting. I'm glad I don't have to waste time convincing you." Her voice turned serious now as she said, "Now we have to talk about hiding just who you are. The two guards who escorted you here seem to be under the impression that you have amnesia, which is just about perfect all things considered. If anyone asks about your past, just tell them that you have no memory of your life before touching the IS. Not your name, not your family, nothing. Got that?"

"Yes," Frank said soberly. Then his tone lightened considerably as he leaned back in his chair. "Really this sounds like we don't need to worry too much huh?"

Chifuyu furrowed her brow a bit. "There is still a problem though."

"Really? What?"

"Your personality. You have no way of knowing this, but you are very different from Ichika in a lot of ways. You're loud, outgoing, snarky, and appear to have very little respect for authority." Frank didn't know whether to laugh or wince at the description. "Anyone who knows Ichika at all will recognize the difference in a heart beat."

Frank's shoulders slumped at that. IF what she was saying was true, then h might have to pretend to be someone else in order to hide who he was.

He need not have worried though because Chifuyu immediately said, "It shouldn't be too much of an issue though. Thankfully for you, Ichika only really has one good friend at the moment, and he will not be at the IS Academy to recognize you. Your other friends were from your childhood several years ago and it's very unlikely you'll meet either of them here."

Pleased at his new sister's words, Frank let out a sigh of relief. He had little time to relax though as the phone on Chifuyu's desk rang. She picked it up promptly and answered, "Yes? Mr. Chan. Yes I have him here. Yes, I have confirmed his loss of memory. Total sir. Ho doesn't even remember who I am. Sir, I recommend… Exactly sir. No I have not confirmed his ability. A test? Are you sure that's… Very well sir, I shall bring him immediately. Goodbye Mr. Chan."

Frank had tried to follow the conversation as best he could, and the glimpses he got worried him. _A test? What test? Does she mean an IS? She can't seriously expect me to pilot one of those mechs now does she?_

As soon as Chifuyu had hung up the phone she had stood up and moved toward the door, motioning for Frank to follow. "Come on. They'll be ready in a few minutes."

_Gulp. _Frank followed her out of the office hesitantly, asking, "Who will be ready?"

"The Board of Administrators. They'll want to see proof that you can pilot an IS before letting you into the school. You're actually a bit lucky. Most students have to wait until the year has started to take their pilot's test. You'll be able to get your placement right away."

Frank felt a pang of fear spear through him. He was going to have to pilot an advanced mech with absolutely no training. _This will be just fantastic._ He was determined to hide his fear though, so he asked another question. "What do you mean by placement?"

Chifuyu kept on walking, her pace brisk as they turned down a new hallway. "Each student at the Academy has a rank based on their year and skill level. Each year has three ranks, and every time a student graduates to the next year they gain three ranks so they remain at the same level in regards to their peers. Initial rank is determined by a test given during the first few days of school. Their performance in the test is evaluated and their rank, 1-3, is given. Rank 1 students are those who have very little natural talent as a pilot or those who have yet to discover it. They are therefore put in classes with heavier focus on theory."

She paused for a moment as they reached an elevator and climbed in. Frank briefly saw that they were on the top floor of this building before Chifuyu pushed the ground floor button and lead them down. "2nd rank students are those who have shown basic understanding of the IS and know how to perform basic maneuvers, such as walking and fighting during the test. These make up the bulk of the students here and have a mix of practical and theoretical training. They are also the first rank which is allowed to practice in an actual IS on the training fields."

The elevator arrived and the two siblings stepped out into a new hallway. "3rd rank students are top of the year. These students have shown great skill in handling there is and succeeded in battle against an instructor. These are the rarest students, usually no more than 10 per year, and their focus is heavily around physical training in the IS itself, with some more advanced battle theory and tactics taught in the classes. 3rd ranks are also the only students in the first year who have constant access to the training fields unless it interferes with the upper year classes and can use some of the school's better amenities."

Frank silently absorbed all of this information, wondering which rank he was going to be. He hoped he could avoid making such a fool of himself that he would end up as a rank 1, because that sounded like it would be both boring and hard work. He silently admitted that he would probably just be a rank 2, though he held out a silent hope that he could pull some bassassitude out of his ass and make it to rank three. _Oh come on, how likely is it that I could master the movements fast enough to use _that _to my advantage? _He hid these thoughts under yet another question, asking with some real curiosity, "What kind of amenities do you mean?"

As Frank asked his question the two travelers found themselves outside and walking away from the cluster of buildings that apparently made up the main campus.

"Rank 3s and upper year students can access several different entertainment or relaxation options that the Academy provides due to the increased physical strain of pilot training. These range from an arcade and pool hall to a private sauna."

Frank was practically salivating at the idea of a practically personnel arcade, though Chifuyu seemed to get the wrong impression. "You should know that you wouldn't be allowed in the sauna for some time even if you earn 3rd rank."

Confused, Frank nearly lost his step and had to jog for a moment to catch back up to the ebony haired woman. "How come?"

Chifuyu scoffed and continued on, ignoring Frank's near slip. "Because I'm not going to be letting a boy run around a sauna built for women."

Frank returned the scoff, annoyed that his sister had so little faith in him. "So I would be seeing them in their swimsuits. Big whoop. I could easily get the same effect walking on the beach."

Chifuyu rolled her eyes at this and said, "You are obviously not from Japan or you would know better. No one wears swimsuits in sauna around here _baka_."

The young boy in Frank blushed as he realized what a problem that would be. "Oh right. I guess that I am a bit of an idiot for not remembering that huh?"

If Chifuyu noticed his understanding of the Japanese word she had said, she made no showing of it. Instead she increased her pace and Frank saw that they were nearing a huge stadium that he assumed would be the place of his test. "That brings up another point I wanted to speak to you about."

Tearing his eyes away from the giant wall of concrete and steel in front of them, Frank questioned, "What?"

She paused for a moment, forcing Frank to pull up short in his walking and turn to her, wondering what was going on.

Chifuyu looked at him, her eyes guarded as she said, "You being a male is going to cause a lot of trouble, not just for your safety from outside groups, but here at school as well. I don't know you very well Frank, so I have no idea just how you will react to what is likely to happen. If you were still Ichika, then I would have almost nothing to worry about, but you are an unknown. Therefore I want you to listen very carefully to what I say right now." Frank was beginning to be seriously concerned here. "I want you to hold yourself to a high moral standard and NOT get involved with any of the girls here at school. Am I clear?"

Frank was silent for a moment, and Chifuyu wondered if she would have to pull her authority to make him accent to her command. She was stopped though when her new brother keeled over and fell flat on the ground with a soft thud. "Um, are you alright down there?"

"That's seriously what you were all worked up about just there? Honestly? The way you were talking I thought you were going to drop some serious bombshell on me. Clearly you don't know me ma'am, because if you did you would know that I have the absolute worst luck with the ladies of anyone I know, and that includes a lot of fictional characters. You don't have to worry about me initiating anything."

"It's not you I'm worried about."

"Huh?"

Chifuyu reached a hand down to help Frank up, which he gladly accepted, brushing off the dirt as best he could on the way up. "I'm not sure if you've realized this yet, but this entire school is made up nothing but girls, so the presence of a single boy in front of several hundred teenage girls is a recipe for disaster. If you show even a hint of being interested in any of them the rest will not leave you allow for a second." She sighed then said, "I just want you to be careful Frank. I was a teenage girl not to long ago myself. I know how bad complete isolation from the male populace affects a girl's mind."

Frank eyed Chifuyu carefully before nodding. "If you say so. I'll try my best to ignore any 'offers'. But if I do fall in love with someone – as unlikely as that is – can I be free to act how I want from there?"

Now it was Chifuyu's turn for silence as she contemplated his request. "Alright. I suppose that would be acceptable, as long as you can prove that you are actually in love with her. Do that, and you can do whatever you want. Within reason of course."

Frank smiled and nodded at that, and the two Orimura's started walking towards the stadium again. As they did, a though occurred to Frank that he soon vocalized. "So this entire school is nothing but girls right?"

"Correct."

"And they are romantically starved due to the lack of guys to date right?"

Chifuyu was glaring at him now as she said, "What are you suggesting?"

"Oh nothing," the boy said as he shrugged his shoulders. "I just think that there is a very real chance that the girls would search out another outlet for their frustrations. That's all."

Narrowed eyes stared back at him when Frank risked a glance. "Is there a problem with that Mr. Orimura?"

"Oh no. No problem at all. I just can't help but wonder how many of the girls indulge themselves in such a manner. I might be remiss to say this, but my personnel estimate would be 40% or more."

"40 perc… that's ridiculous!" Chifuyu exclaimed as she voice rose an octave above its usual deadpan.

Frank raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Oh is it? Tell me, what's the national average here in Japan."

Chifuyu actually sputtered a bit before saying loudly, "I don't know what it is off the top of my head, but I know for certain it is not nearly that high."

His inward smile grew in proportion to Chifuyu's rising voice. He knew quite well that the number he'd suggested was utter BS, but it was an awesome way to mess with his new sister. Another thing about Frank that Chifuyu was clueless about was his habit of trolling his siblings horribly. He suspected that his usual tricks would not work very well on an adult female, but it wouldn't be to hard to a new set of buttons to push. _With that in mind…_ "If you're so sure you're right, care to make a wager on the subject?"

Chifuyu turned and stared at Frank, as if measuring just where to strike him to cause the maximum pain possible. "What kind of wager?"

Frank's smile now appeared on his face as he explained, "If I can prove that 2 or more out of every 5 girls in this school either prefers or is amicable to dating another girl, then I win. If I cannot find proof of this by the end of the year, or if you can find proof that the number is less than 40%, then you win. Winner can force the loser to do any one task they want, so long as the task does not require any sort of injury or possibility of harm." Chifuyu seemed surprised at how properly Frank had stated the terms, if the lack of his being punched in the face was any indicator. "So, you in?"

Silence reigned for several minutes as the stadium before them continued to approach. Frank snuck several glances at the woman next to him, a slight smirk on his face as he walked. Just as they reached the entrance though she finally cleared her throat and said, "Fine. I accept your terms. Only because I know that you will lose. Anyway we're here, so get ready." With that she lead him into the stadium. After walking around the concourse for a while they reached another set of elevators to take them up to the second level.

When the doors opened a middle age man with sharply cut hair and a well-made black suit met them. Frank tried his best to look friendly and said, "Mr. Chan I presume."

The man looked startled for a moment, but swiftly recovered and held out his hand. "Yes, well observed. I am Hue Chan, current leader of the Infinite Stratos Administration Board and, to borrow the British term for it, Headmaster of the IS Academy. Normally I wouldn't be personally attending a student's placement test, but I think we all know why I am doing so now. Young man, we are expecting a lot from you. Be sure not to let us down."

Though he could feel the pressure begin to build up on his shoulders, Frank steeled himself and said, "Sure thing sir. I'll try not to trip over my own feet."

Chan nodded and waved goodbye as he walked into the elevator, presumably to some observation level to watch his test. Once the doors closed Chifuyu lead him into a large room that had two massive doors that appeared to open up on the stadium. In the center of the room was an IS, one which looked significantly different from the one he'd seen in the storeroom.

It had a simply gray and white color scheme, but was very radical aside from that. Despite being heralded as the most advanced system in the world, it looked less like a suit of battle armor and more like a bunch of metal limbs loosely connected together that had wing-like growths for some reason. The whole set up reminded Frank a lot of the second heartless boss from Kingdom Hearts, Guard Armor or something like that. "Um, are you sure it's supposed to look like that?"

Chifuyu strode past him to a console sited behind the IS, mockingly calling back to him, "As one of the head instructors of the IS Academy and an experienced pilot in my own right… Yes. That's what they look like."

Frank rolled his eyes and walked closer, circling round the mech and eying the very thin looking back plate. "If this thing is supposed to be powered armor, then why the hell is there no covering for the pilot in the middle? Wouldn't you be exposed to almost any attack launched at you?"

Frank heard a sigh from behind him as Chifuyu entered a series of commands on the console. "The IS doesn't protect you with physical armor baka. It projects an invisible energy shield that deflects and absorbs any harmful energy, either kinetic or plasma, that it encounters. Now get in so we can start it up."

Shaking his head to hide his laughter at Chifuyu's obvious annoyance, Frank walked up a small set of stairs set behind the IS and climbed into the leg slots. As soon as he did he felt the insides of the leg armor latch onto his clothes and press up against his skin, locking deep into place. He looked over his shoulder and asked, "Uh, should I be wearing regular clothes for this?" The clacking of keys on the console stopped. "Chifuyu?"

"It's fine Ichika, just place your arms in the gauntlets."

Frank was silently thankful of the fact that his shirt had short sleeves. Ignoring his concern for his pants, _these are my favorite pants damnit, _he plunged his arms into the rest of the armor and felt another clench and winced as he felt the hairs on his arms tingle uncomfortably. Once that was over though he tried flexing his arm and felt a massive influx of strength. He experimentally swung his arms around and was surprised at how intuitive it felt. More confident now, he took several steps forward, extremely happy at the ease with which he could do so. He smiled with glee and tried a small jump. Small being relative as he flew up over 3 meters, nearly scraping the ceiling as he did so.

"Watch what you're doing Ichika!"

"Sorry." Properly chastened, Frank decided to save the strength tests for outside, and instead adopted a fighting stance and threw punches as fast as he could. He laughed proudly at the speed and power of his blows, imagining them demolishing a building in just a few seconds. "This is too awesome."

Chifuyu had been quiet for the duration of his exercise, though the look in her eyes was slightly lighter than before, which was encouraging. "If you're done fooling around we can start the test."

Fully secure that he was ready for the conflict ahead, Frank whipped up a salute and exclaimed, "All set ma'am!"

"Very well then." A few typed commands later the doors opened, a flood of sunlight nearly blinding Frank for a moment before a Heads Up Display appeared before him and automatically shaded his eyes. After regaining his sight he took a moment to familiarize himself with the HUD, analyzing the data presented in various organized boxes. He had no clue what most of them were saying but one had a curved colored bar circling an icon of his mech, which he guessed that it represented his health or armor or something. Everything else was so much gibberish as far as he cared. He turned back to Chifuyu, who nodded in confirmation and he ran out into the stadium beyond.

ISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISIS

Asuka Belvara was having an absolutely horrible day so far. Waking up to an extremely loud alarm clock blaring in her ears started everything off terribly, which wasn't helped by her rolling off her bed in sleepy confusion. After that things continued to trend downhill, as the hot water in her shower ran out in seconds, the toaster died in the middle of making her toast, the paper was missing from her front door, and her hair had decided that today was the day of its armed uprising against her scalp.

Taking nearly twice as long as usual to recover from her awful morning, Asuka finally managed to escape her flat at half past 9, a full hour late for her meet up with her friends. She consoled herself that they would understand and managed to get to the mall in fairly decent time, skirting around the traffic snarl that normally affected her commute to work. The bad day hit her again with a fury though when she found out that her friends were no longer at the mall. One of them had managed to get tickets to her favorite band, (not Asuka's, thank God) and they had left early to get decent seats. Meaning she was alone for the rest of her Saturday. Normally this would be annoying but manageable for the young woman. She was used to being alone after all and had previously had plenty of fun on such days. Today was not one of those days and Asuka found herself in dire need of support from her friends to make up for her shit day so far.

Loneliness didn't have long to sting her though as she received a call from her work to come in for an emergency pilot test. Her groan drew several annoyed stares but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. This was the last week of her summer vacation and here they were bringing her in early. It was probably some whiney national representative wanting to get an early placement so she could lord it over her fellow students. God how she hated teenagers!

The only reason she dealt with being an instructor was so that she could continue to use an IS. Apparently there wasn't room in her national team back in Germany to go on the professional circuit, despite the fact that she could personally kick the asses of almost half of the current roster by herself. Asuka secretly blamed her mother for keeping her from being officially recognized. The 'wondrous woman' just had to insult everyone who wasn't in her intelligence range, which sadly covered about 95% of the human population. It didn't matter to most that she was Germany's best IS designer and engineer. To them she was an arrogant bitch who sadly had the brains to back up her boasts. Friends Asuka's mother does not make.

Asuka felt herself growling at the thought of her mother, the sound growing deeper as she plowed her way through midday traffic to the IS Academy. As she got closer though her mood began to brighten as she remembered just what made being the top instructor worth it. She would be able to pilot an IS again after nearly two months away on vacation. She laughed to herself as she neared the school, noting the irony that her 'vacation' actually forced her away from the thing she loved most in the world. It was necessary, however, because as wonderful as the IS was, it didn't fully make up for all of the crap teenage crap that she had to deal with. The way some of those girls acted, you'd think they thought it was all one big slumber party with all the effort – or lack thereof – they put into their learning. Still, this was just a pilot test, so all she had to do was fly her mech and kick some ass. She was hesitant to dare and be happy on a day like today, but she couldn't help but smile as she got closer and closer to the only love in the world.

She arrived, miraculously, only ten minutes after her call and immediately made her way to the training stadium. With the school year approaching and the IS competitive season done for the year, the huge parking lot that was reserved for visitors to the matches was completely barren, allowing Asuka to get a wonderful parking spot next to the entrance. As the call was an emergency, Asuka made her way immediately to her garage slot, not taking the time to grab a pilot suit to change into. As soon as she entered her launch room she leaped into her IS and started the prep sequence, thankful for what little luck she had today that she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt instead of something fancy. The final part of the checklist was completed and the doors opened before her. Asuka paused, taking a deep breath and feeling the joy of the moment before plunging out the door at high speed.

She flew up to the very top of the stadium, relishing the freedom and power flowing into her. Ah, it was glorious, unlike anything Asuka had ever experienced anywhere else in her life. Every bad thing that had happened to her today evaporated as she let herself be consumed by unrestrained joy.

Her euphoria was cut off as her comm. unit beeped, reminding her that she was here to work. When she answered the call an image of Mr. Chan appeared on her HUD, her distant superior wearing a brilliant smile on his face. _A genuine smile, not that political mask he wears for the cameras. This must be really important for him. _"Hello Mr. Chan. Nice day isn't it? So, who's but am I kicking today?"

Chan laughed and replied, "Someone very special Miss Belvara. Someone very special indeed. Your job, should you choose to accept it," (Chan was a big spy fan, and was a religious follower of James Bond), "is to take this pilot and push them to their limits. We need to see just what they are capable of. Don't pull any punches. Give them your very best. And don't be afraid to have some fun with it. Good luck."

Asuka smiled confidently as she signed off. "Let's hope I can get some sir. We day has been kind off sucky till now. Over and out." Now focused on the job at hand, Asuka turned and made her way over to the other end of the field searching for her opponent. After spotting her, Asuka's imagination started dreaming up possibilities as to who they were and why Asuka was needed to test her. As head instructor for the Academy, Asuka was only called out to administer pilot tests when the prospective pilot was either A) very, _very _good, or B) they were somewhere above decent and needed a lesson in humility.

As the red-haired German approached she took the opportunity to study her target. The girl was in a standard practice IS, an old but powerful generation 1 juggernaut that could dish out some heavy punishment when allowed. It was very outdated and had been phased out of active use several years ago, but they still did some good work here at the Academy, preparing students for the more advanced IS's they would eventually use.

Asuka's own IS was a Gen 2 Standard Model, a French design that she had fully customized in a bright red and white paint scheme. One of the most heavily produced designs in the world; the SM was a versatile, rough-and-tumble mech that was the ultimate JOAS (Jack Of All Stats). Extremely modular, the design could be modified to fit nearly any role and in the hands of a skilled pilot it could be absolutely deadly. Asuka personally favored a mix of high speed and defensive ability, eschewing heavy firepower for improved handling and precision. It was a difficult variety to master, but it had paid dividends for her in the past.

Sadly Asuka would not be allowed to use most of this capability in her fight today. All IS's used during tests had limiters built in to keep novice pilots from going out of control. She sighed, resigned to what was likely to be another sad note in an already disappointing day.

She flew closer, and was rather surprised to see how fast the trainee was moving in her IS. _She must already be set to level 2. They have a lot of faith in her if she enters the arena with that level of freedom. _Surprised and pleased, Asuka kept her approach as silent as possible. The trainee wasn't fooled and instantly turned around to face her. Oddly enough the pilot had only a helmet covering up her face, a curiosity Asuka had not encountered before. _Perhaps she wants to hide her identity until after the test, keep me as impartial as possible._ Reassured, Asuka began to move closer when the girl yelled out in a synthesized voice, "These things can fly too? Oh this is just too awesome!"

Asuka was surprised to say the least. _She doesn't even know that an IS can fly? Jeez where the hell did they find this rookie? Mars?_ She smiled politely and called back, "Yes, they most definitely can fly. You can too. You just have to know how it's done. What's your name?"

The girl turned away and said, "I'm not supposed to say."

Asuka nodded, understanding it as part of the ploy, and studied her opponent. Rarely for a standard IS, the girl's body was completely covered by a metal exoskeleton, no doubt to continue the effect of keeping her in the dark. Well it was certainly working. Asuka had no clue what body type the girl in front of her had. Funnily enough the armor was shaped somewhat in the likeness of a boy, though she guessed that it was all part of the plan. She decided to indulge the Admins for now and asked, "Well trainee, are you ready to begin your test?"

The girl nodded and said loudly, "Hell Yeah! Let's do this!"

Asuka's smile broadened as she settled onto the ground, her wings folding up to save space. "Very well. We shall start with hand-to-hand combat on the ground only." Close quarter fighting without weaponry was very rare for use in a test, but Chifuyu had requested it of her in the call, so she would oblige her.

A computerized hologram appeared between the two pilots, slowly counting down from ten. Asuka used the time to study her opponent's stance. The girl held her arms loosely at her sides, but Asuka could tell she was not relaxed at all. The trainee's body was poised to strike out in any direction, a defensive stance that the German recognized very quickly. _So, this girl has some martial arts training huh? Well let's just see how much she knows. _With both mechs' limiters in place the two normally very different IS's were frozen at the same ability level, so that testing would be based around the pilot's skills and talent rather than the capabilities of the machine.

As the clock round down to zero, Asuka readied herself in a runner's position, prepared to pounce as soon as the match started.

DING! The bell sounded and Asuka raced forward, attempting to catch her opponent off guard with pure speed. The tactic failed though as the trainee leaped over the coming attack and angled herself to strike as Asuka passed under her. Surprised, but not alarmed, Asuka easily rolled out of the way, allowing the younger girl to waste her punch on the empty ground below. With her adversary firmly distracted with their mistake, Asuka leaped back at her and launched the larger IS away with a strong kick. The trainee flailed helplessly for several meters before regaining control and landing on her feet. Impressed, the red-haired instructor settled back, letting the rookie take the lead for now.

The girl wasted no time, barging forward with what appeared to be reckless abandon. The instructor was not fooled as she easily blocked the punch aimed at her face and ducked under the kick that followed. Now that she was within her enemy's guard, Asuka pressed up with her legs and released a devastating upper cut that knocked the younger woman off her feet. The experienced pilot allowed herself a smile of confidence, but felt the happy feeling be replaced with shock as she saw a metal leg flying toward her.

The blow knocked Asuka off her feet, requiring a full flip to right herself. By the time that was done though, the trainee's fist had already connected to Asuka's face, the shield protecting her flaring a bright crimson in protest to the strike. Shocked and caught off guard, Asuka retreated to regain her footing. _That was some impressive strategy there. This girl clearly had some excellent teachers to be doing this well. _More cautious now that the younger girl had proven herself, Asuka relaxed her stance to be more fluid, attempting to adapt her style to fit this new adversary. It had been a very long time since she had fought hand-to-hand, in the IS or otherwise, but hours upon hours of practice kept her still and poised. A quick check of her shield meter showed that she had lost a quarter of her 'health' in the last exchange, an astounding result for her enemy.

The rookie, her face unreadable behind her face mask, once again entered the limp stance, mimicking a snake reared up to strike. The two pilots circled each other for a few moments before both froze in place. Silence floated on the air as they stared each other down, daring their opponent to strike. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, both women leaped right into the fray.

How long they traded blows for Asuka could not be sure. Punches and kicks, counters and blocks, all merged together as the two women spared. It did not take long though for an edge to become clear. As skilled as the trainee was, Asuka's experience and extensive training steadily gave her the advantage. Seeing her moment in the works, Asuka deflected a right hook and ducked a left jab, then rammed herself into her opponent's torso. Unprepared for the attack, the helmeted girl was knocked back until Asuka leapt atop her and kicked her into the ground. Readying herself for the final strike, the instructor jumped back, her thrusters roaring as she leaped up as high as she could. Her unsupported mass was too heavy to stay airborne and the red-head began her decent towards the ground, directly targeted at the rookie still lying stunned in the dirt. A satisfied smirk graced Asuka's lips as she wound up a mighty punch that would knock her opponent right out. Caught up in the emotion of the moment, she let out a loud war cry, her roar of triumph echoing across the empty stands.

The trainee was not done yet though. Asuka spied a hint of movement along the girl's arm, suggesting a last ditch attempt at stopping her punch. The red-head had spotted it though, and reangled to dodge the future blow. Now mere feet away from her victory, Asuka was relishing her success when a second glance tore it all away. Just below the focus of her vision was a blur of movement. Aware of the danger as she was, it was already far too late to correct her mistake now. _Clever girl._

Just as Asuka's rocketing fist collided with the trainee's IS, a monstrous kick slamed into her side, sending the astounded instructor careening into a wall.

All was quiet for some time, the last bits of dust just settling to the floor as thoughts raced inside Asuka's mind. _I can't believe it. She got me. I practically had her gift wrapped and ready for mailing when she gets me completely out of nowhere. How could I have missed it?_

After wrenching herself out of the wall Asuka turned and stared hard at the trainee, who had not moved from her crater in the ground. The instructor brought up a stadium report on her opponent's status, not at all surprised to see that the IS's true shield had held up under the limiters. Despite the ferocity of their fight, Asuka knew neither IS was anywhere close to the breaking point. Being designed to absorb hits from highly advanced kinetics and plasma, it was very unlikely some bare-knuckle brawling was even going to scratch the paint.

Satisfied that the girl was still breathing, Asuka slowly walked over to the crater, puzzling out just who the girl could be. She was obviously incredibly well skilled, almost certainly a national representative for her year. The question then was which county she was from. England? France? The U.S.? Germany, (heaven forbid)? Whichever is was, that girl would clearly be a rising star with the first year, perhaps even a future world champion in the making. The instructor clapped her hands in glee at the opportunity to train a potential world champ. A record like that would definitely open up some eyes back home. By the time Asuka reached the trainee's hole, she was day dreaming about touring around the world on an IS team, competing with some of the best pilots out there and soaking in the adoring love of her fans. She could almost see it now.

That 'almost' turned into complete blindness when she climbed over the lip of the crater and saw her rookie champ inside. The training IS had shut down automatically with the end of the test, returning to its standby state, which included removing the pilot's exoskeleton armor and helmet.

The person she saw as the pilot of the IS sent Asuka's brain on a one way trip to the moon. Sitting in the pilot seat of the IS who had given the instructor her best fight in years was none other than the 100% male Ichika Orimura, younger brother of her boss, Chifuyu. A lot of things could have been said which would have jolted the young woman out of her stunned silence, but none of those thousands of possibilities exited young Ichika's mouth. Instead he said in a pleading tone. "Could you help me out of here? I'm kinda stuck."

Asuka, the top IS instructor at the Academy and one of the most unshakeable women to have ever graced its halls, keeled over backwards and fell faint onto the ground, her IS forming a bright metal cocoon around her.

"Hello? Uh, ma'am? You still there? That was a really funny joke and all that, but I'm still trapped down here? Anyone? Help?"


	2. Chapter 2

Hello readers of Infinite Madness. Welcome to the second chapter of my story. For those of you wondering about Asuka, please note that she is _not_ the same exact character as she is in Neon Genesis Evangelion. That said she will be very similar, basically an adult version of her that is not completely mentally screwed up. So there's that. Also you should be warned that this is not the exact same universe as the show, as several things will be changed in the backstory to make a little more sense, (destroying 2000+ missiles in one IS is just ridiculous, no matter how badass you are). So if that turns you off somewhat, I'm sorry, but please give it a try anyway and be sure to tell me your thoughts on the changes. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME HE WAS A GUY!?"

Chifuyu remained silent for a moment, allowing her direct subordinate some time to calm down. Despite knowing her for more than 5 years now, the older woman was sometimes shocked at just how frightening Asuka could be when she got angry. The old joke about fiery red-heads only just barely applied to this German pilot. She was less like a fire and more like a volcano, calm one moment and erupting the next. Still, the younger woman did have very good control of her temper most of the time. When she did lose it though, she made damn sure you knew about it.

When Asuka showed that she wasn't anywhere close to calming down and was continuing on her rant, Chifuyu continued to let her mind wander.

Come to think of it, it was rather odd that she has such a close friendship with a woman like Asuka anyway. They were practically opposites in a lot of ways. Asuka was loud, outgoing, energetic and openly confident in her abilities. She loved to fight and was extremely tactical in combat, making use of every strength and weakness on both sides of the fight. Chifuyu, by contrast, was very reserved, quiet, focused and silently intimidating. Asuka had to convince others she wasn't to be messed with. Chifuyu could say it louder by her mere presence.

The differences mattered little though, or maybe they were the thing that really mattered after all. The two of them complimented each other so well. Teacher and student. Quiet samurai and boisterous ace pilot. Whatever it was, Asuka was easily her best student, and the one she had always been closest to. It was this closeness that allowed Chifuyu to weather Asuka's rages with seemingly no effort. They were still very frustrating though. "If you're done running your mouth then perhaps I can get a chance to speak?"

Asuka halted her rant, scowling as she asked, "You didn't listen to anything I was just saying did you?" Chifuyu's only answer was a slight smile. "Oh God damnit Chifuyu! You could at least pretend that I have a right to be angry right now. You went behind my back and left me in the dark about who I was fighting. You never do that!"

The older woman let out a slight sigh. Her tone was remorseful as she said. "I know Asuka. Normally I would have informed you beforehand, especially since you're still on vacation."

Asuka let herself slump back and crossed her arms, her anger mollified for the moment. Chifuyu apologizing was a rare thing, almost as rare as her making a mistake, so Asuka knew she was sorry about it. _Too bad. It's not often I get an excuse to yell at Chifuyu. It's always so much fun._ The German girl huffed and said, "So what's different about this time? Aside from the obvious of course."

Chifuyu's smile returned. Asuka usually forgave very easily, and the ebony-haired woman was glad her friend wasn't holding a grudge. Those were very rare and always ended nastily for those who'd provoked her ire. "The decision to keep Ichika's identity from you was a collective one on the part of the Board. We couldn't let his instructor know that he was a male; otherwise the test would not be properly administered. We'd all agreed on that before you were chosen as the tester." Chifuyu threw a quick glance out the window to where Ichika was lying on the grass, his two assigned bodyguards standing a short distance away. "Ichika also thought it would be funny, so there's that."

Asuka glared at the boy for a moment, irritated that he had gotten a laugh out of her for something her bosses had decided on. It felt like cheating. "Of course he did. Story of my day. Anyway, how did you know that you needed me to test him? You only call me in for pilots who've already proven themselves."

Chifuyu was curious about that day comment, but shrugged it off for later. "I was going to call in Miss Yamada to handle it - you know how good she is with new students - but then I saw him running in the IS after two minutes of handling it. If we hadn't limited him to level 2 limiters he may very well have flown out of the stadium on his own. Plus he's been taking martial arts classes, as you obviously figured out, so he already knows how to fight."

Asuka mulled the news over in her mind and found that she wasn't really surprised. Some people just instinctively knew how to fly an IS, and it would make sense that Chifuyu's brother shared some of her natural talent. "About that. When did you find time to train him in that? I haven't seen you taking any extra time off lately."

Chifuyu closed her eyes, rapidly fabricating a cover for herself. "I didn't train him. He went and found a trainer for himself."

"What? No way! Ichika's never been that proactive before. Why would he do that?"

Sighing, Chifuyu turned away from her friend and again looked out the window and down at her new brother. He was still lying there on the grass and was talking to the two guards, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. "He's changed. And I don't just mean the memory loss. He was different even before that. I don't really know what happened, but it started while I was gone in Germany for that training job. Being on his own for a year must have really affected him. By the time I got back he'd already learned enough to reasonably defend himself from most threats. Worse than that, he was practically grown up." Down on the lawn Ichika laughed at something one of the guards said, then stood and actually did a standing flip. "I mean he's still mostly a kid. Hell he may be even more of a kid than before. He lost a lot of his naiveté but seems to have replaced it with a strange sense of humor. Along with a weird love of pranks."

Asuka looked down at Ichika as well, recognizing for the first time just how different he seemed. Despite being Chifuyu's best friend for several years, Asuka rarely saw her younger brother aside from the occasional visit to her friend's home. When she was there the boy she'd seen was kind and demure, a distinct separation from his older sibling. Now he was a completely different person, joking and laughing with two people he had barely met. "Must be strange, coming back home to see someone new living with you."

Chifuyu nodded, glad that her story had worked but also slightly upset that she had to lie to her best friend. It was necessary though to secure Ichika's safety. Even if he wasn't Ichika anymore… _NO! It doesn't matter that someone else is in there. He's still my brother. And I WILL defend him._

"So, when will he be starting in my class?"

Chifuyu cocked an eyebrow at her friend. "Oh? And what makes you think he's qualified to be in your class?"

"Uh, were we even at the same match just now? That kid is a potential goldmine. The amount of skill he showed in piloting the IS after only ten minutes of practice is _insane_. Not to mention his mastery of close-quarters combat. Hell, even with all the changes he's gone through he still has to be your brother if he's this talented. He is in my class. End of discussion."

Chifuyu knew that the Board would agree with her, as did Chifuyu herself, but Asuka didn't need to know that. "I don't know. Miss Yamada has done quite a bit of good work recently. Perhaps she should teach him."

Asuka rolled her eyes and said, "Ha ha, nice try Chifuyu. No. He's with me. That's that."

A slight smile appeared on the older woman's face. _Oh well. It was worth a shot. _"Alright fine. You're twisted my arm. I guess he'll be in your class." She continued on while Asuka was pumping her fist with glee. "He'll be placed in class 1-1 as a Rank 3 when the semester starts. Until then he's coming back home with me. Hopefully I can knock some memories back into that thick skull of his."

Asuka nodded somberly, reminded of the cost that Ichika had to pay for being the first male IS driver. _Poor guy. What must it be like to not remember anything about your old life? He must be devastated._

ISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISISIS

"This is the most awesome day of my life," Frank whispered to himself as he fell back onto the grass. He lay there motionless, loving the smooth and tingly feeling of the small green stems on his neck.

It had taken 5 minutes and the efforts of two other IS's to pull him out of the ground he was stuck in, which was both hilarious and frustrating, particularly because he needed to visit the bathroom. After that was done he'd been dragged off to meet more of the Administrative Board, who all shook his hand and praised his performance in the match. They'd eventually sent him off with some final glowing remarks, reminding him that he would have a lot of eyes on him throughout the year.

Chifuyu then showed up with his opponent from the arena, whose name was apparently Asuka. Thankfully they started moving immediately afterward, or else Frank might have laughed his ass off with the recognition of who she was. He spent the rest of the walk bouncing around in his head celebrating his tie with the red-haired German. Normally he would have been pissed about tying a match, especially if it was just by the skin of his teeth. But to have fought against someone who had such a badass reputation and managing to hold his own against her was more than enough for him.

His smiles were probably a bit too broad for his own good, because he appeared to be freaking out the poor guards who were being forced to escort them. Not that he noticed. He was just too absorbed in his happiness to care. When Chifuyu and Asuka told him to wait outside while they discussed his future at the Academy he merely nodded his head and returned to his daydreaming.

Just what was he daydreaming about? Well the IS of course. Frank didn't watch all that much anime back in his home… universe? Dimension? Point is, while he knew many of the common memes and trivia surrounding the more popular animes, he'd never actually watched many of them. Because of this, he'd had no idea of what to expect of piloting a mech. Now though, he could hardly imagine doing anything else that would even be close to the feeling he'd had today.

Being in the IS had given him a sense of power beyond anything he'd ever imagined. He'd had a raw strength capable of throwing tanks with ease and speed that could match that of a fighter jet. It was the most exhilarating experience in his life. _And I'm going to learn how to drive those for a living! _

Frank was so busy salivating that he didn't notice the two guards approaching him until one tapped him on the shoulder. He instinctively threw up a guard (stance, not actually throwing one of the guards), but relaxed when he saw it was Ramina and Tamicha. Chifuyu had explained that they would be his bodyguards while they waited for school to start and had introduced them to their charge. Neither guard had appeared thrilled at the assignment, which Frank did not help by immediately racing out of the stadium ahead of everyone else. Still, perhaps he should try to make nice with these two. After all they were here to protect him. "Oh, hi there. Didn't see you. What's up?"

Ramina answered him first, saying, "Mr. Orimura, as you know it is our duty to protect you. However, we heard from Miss Orimura that you have some knowledge of self defense. We are curious to see what you already know."

Frank laughed and said, "Okay you asked for it." He then flipped backwards and started going through numerous marital exercises showing off his strength and flexibility. It wasn't as easy for him to do everything in this body, seeing as the original owner had not exercised very much. It would take him time to both adjust to Ichika's body and to rebuild all the muscles that he'd originally had, but what he had now was still enough to put looks of awe on the faces of his two bodyguards.

Tamicha recovered first, managing to pull her jaw off the ground to be able to say, "That… that is very impressive Mr. Orimura. As skilled as you are though, it would not be worth much against anyone who truly wished you harm."

"Please call me Ichika. And yeah I figured that. That's why I have you guys, isn't it?"

"Yes. Should you come under assault, we would protect you until help can arrive." Ramina held her wrist significantly, twisting at a bracelet she wore for some reason.

Frank noticed this then asked, "So would you be protecting us with IS's? If so where would we store them?"

Ramina smiled then held out her bracelet, explaining, "We keep our personal IS's here on our wrists. We call on them when they are needed and they will instantly appear, ready for battle."

Incredulous, Frank looked closer at the bracelet, which sat there innocently staring back at him. "How the hell does an entire mech armor fit inside that tiny little wrist decoration?"

Tamicha and Ramina looked at each other, shrugged and said together, "We don't know."

When Frank complained about them not knowing how their own mechs worked, they explained that no one actually knew how they worked except for the original inventor, Tabane Shinonono. There were even some rumors that even Ms. Shinonono didn't know everything about them, particularly amongst men who wish to be IS pilots but were unable. Others said that it was a conspiracy on Tabane's part to phase men out of their dominant place in society, though most laughed this off as ludicrous.

Somewhat annoyed at the concept of the entire world using a battle mech no one actually understood, Frank decided to switch topics and asked Ramina and Tamicha about themselves.

As it turned out the two women were sisters, just barely a year apart in age, though they were even closer than some twins from what Frank gathered. They had both grown up here in Japan and enrolled in the IS Academy as teenagers. After graduating a few years ago they had tried to join the Japanese IS team but were rejected for lack of experience. Unable to place as instructors RT (as Frank started calling them in his head) were instead hired as guards for the school, ensuring that no terrorist groups or rouge attacks harmed the students.

"How often does that happen?"

Ramina smiled and said, "Almost never. The only attack in the school's history was immediately after its opening. Some nations weren't happy with the limitations the Alaska Treaty placed on them and tried to go after the Treaty Board, the one which also manages the Academy."

Tamicha continued for her sister. "They didn't get very far though. Back then the White Knight had not yet disappeared, and she defended the school with a vengeance. Ever since then it's always been too dangerous to attack the Academy and we have remained untouched ever since. We are proud to protect and serve our sister pilots from whatever evil monsters are out there."

Frank was a bit puzzled about both the Alaska Treaty and the White Knight but did not have a chance to inquire further when Asuka and Chifuyu walked out of the building behind him.

The two women talked at length about what the IS Academy was like and what his schedule would be. He would be put into class 1-1 with several of the other rank 3s and several rank 2s with Asuka as his instructor. He was glad to hear this, because few in his mind could be a better teacher then the ex-German representative. Frank learned that students lived in small apartments on campus with a single roommate, though who he would be rooming with had yet to be determined. Until school started he would be staying in Ichika and Chifuyu's house, where he was to remain inside unless escorted by RT.

With the day growing late and nothing more needing to be said the two Orimura's prepared to leave, the two twin bodyguards in tow. Frank bade farewell to Asuka, with the promise that their next match would be even more exciting than the first. It was clear from his instructor's face that she could hardly wait.

They left the Academy soon after in Chifuyu's car, Ramina and Tamicha sitting in the back after Frank called dibs on shotgun, (they were both confused at that one). As they drove off Frank took the time to look around at the city he now lived in. Tall, bright office buildings filled the city center, towering above the clean streets and busy sidewalks. Further out the houses looked far more familiar, though still much more stylized than he was used to. The whole area felt like it belonged several decades in the future but he was so fascinated with the landscape that he didn't care.

One thing that he noticed was weird was just how spread out everything was. The descriptions he'd heard of Japan in the past suggested that being able to hold your arms out to your sides a major achievement. But this city seemed to have heard that stereotype and slashed it to pieces. San Francisco was far worse in its suburbs than any part of downtown, and this city's suburbs had bloody lawns!

When he asked about the city's history, Chifuyu said it had been built very recently, only 10 years ago for the main city center, and it was still growing on the outskirts.

They soon arrived at the house; a medium sized two-story building with a well-manicured lawn in an upscale neighborhood. The place looked very comfortable to Frank's eye, and was nicer than any house he'd ever lived in previously. _Sweet._

As they walked in Chifuyu lead them all around the house, pointing out Ichika's bedroom and the guest room where RT would be staying. When the two sisters gave no objection to the single bed in the room Frank gave Chifuyu a look, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively. The ebony haired woman paid him no heed, sending him off to make dinner.

Apparently Chifuyu had Ichika do all of the cooking and cleaning around the house due her long hours at the Academy. Thankfully for Frank he had plenty of experience with both subjects and was able to make some quick and easy ramen for everyone. _Looks like I'm going to have to get some Japanese cook books very soon._

Frank didn't mind though. Cooking was one of the few chores he'd ever actually enjoyed, and this house was so clean and orderly anyway that it would be an cinch to maintain.

Dinner was a quiet affair, broken only by the occasional question from the two guards about the neighborhood and possible defensive options. Frank just let his thoughts wander around, alternatively replaying his match with Asuka and daydreaming about future battles.

When everyone finished Frank cleared up the plates and loaded the dishwasher while the three women discoursed in the living room. While he was washing he took a moment to appreciate the house. It was very nice, probably less than a few years old and had everything a bachelor would need to relax. A massive hot tub in the master bedroom, a large home theater and an entire, well-stocked bar in the kitchen. The fact that the bachelor was a barely into her twenties woman and her younger brother was kept around to maintain it all did not detract a wit from the value of the house in Frank's eyes. Besides, he would be able to use those same amenities for himself when Chifuyu was at school. He nearly rubbed his hands in glee in anticipation.

After he was done with his dishwashing Frank wandered into the living room in time to hear RT announce that they were going on a trip around the neighborhood to search for anything (or anyone) suspicious. It would take them several hours so they told the siblings to go ahead and sleep if they wanted. Frank privately wondered if he'd ever be able to fall asleep again after how exciting this day had been.

Once they'd left, Chifuyu turned to Frank and said, "I don't suppose you'll be falling asleep anytime soon will you?" He shook his head. "Well then let's talk."

Frank rested back against his part of the couch and let his sister speak.

"Over the course of the next few days I will be educating you on Ichika's past and personality in the guise of trying to bring back your memories. While we do this you must be constantly aware of what you say in front of Ramina and Tamicha. To blow your secret now would add a thousand complications we don't currently need. Now that they're gone for the moment we can get a head start."

Frank leaned back up for a moment while he said, "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. If they're here to keep us safe, then why would they leave us alone at night with the expectation that we would be going to sleep?"

Chifuyu sighed and shook her head, muttering under her breath, "Baka." In a stronger tone she explained, "I talked with them earlier about this and they agreed to give me a chance to speak to you alone, 'sibling to sibling'. It is actually very unlikely that you will be attacked here at home because no one knows about your IS ability yet. Ramina and Tamicha are here just as much to keep you here, and out of trouble, as much as to defend you. The Board mandated they be here on the very minor chance of an attack, and I agreed, but they left final discretion of how much you have to be guarded to me."

"Oh," was all Frank could say in response.

After that Chifuyu started telling the story of Ichika's past. The Orimura's had lost their parents as kids, forcing Chifuyu to grow up and protect her brother to the best of her ability. Ichika apparently didn't even remember his parents at all. The only things he knew about family came from his sister. _Poor guy._

Chifuyu did her job well. Almost too well now that she was looking back on it. Ichika was all but sheltered from everything negative the world had to offer. Somewhere along the way Ichika must have realized the hardships she was going through and wanted to help her, not knowing that her suffering was meant to protect him. The boy must have been so confused about what to do. Ichika became very closed off and quiet, preferring his own company or that of sister to other people. Then, when Ichika turned 8, everything changed.

Before Chifuyu could expand upon that the doorbell rang, forcing her to pause in her storytelling and answer the door. Frank was left to brood on what she had said, and wonder just what the hell had changed on Ichika's 8th birthday. _Damn cliffhangers. Always hated them so much._

Once she came back with RT, Chifuyu sent him off to bed. It was going to be a busy day for her tomorrow so he needed to be ready to help her be ready to help her in the morning. Frank threw an affirmative salute and marched off to his room. As soon as he entered he found himself growing extremely tired, as if every exertion he'd made that day hit him all at the same time. Exhaustion creped into his limbs as Frank shakily made it to the bed and conked out instantly.

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The next morning was a flurry of activity as Ichika rushed around the house to help Chifuyu get ready for work. He did everything from setting out her clothes, hanging up her towel, making breakfast, cleaning the dishes, fetching the newspaper and finally delivering her suitcase to her just outside the door. He ran the whole gamut. By the time his sister had left his head was spinning like a top.

Thankfully though with her gone he was able to relax a while and start on the unofficial homework Chifuyu had given him. The book, entitled 'The Short but Powerful History of the Infinite Stratos', had been written only a year before and was a world best seller, so Chifuyu was hoping it would help to jump start his education before the school year started.

While reading the introduction he was astounded at all the different ways the IS could be used aside from combat. The designs had proven their value in everything from aiding astronauts on space walks, emergency rescue work, deep seas exploration, weather prediction, energy production and international sport.

The military side of its capabilities was a whole 'nother can of worms though. On the eve of launching her new product, the super genius (and slightly wacky) inventor of the IS declared that her mech designs would make all modern military tech completely obsolete. Experts all over the world scoffed at that, saying that an ungainly suit designed for space, (as the IS was originally supposed to be) would be utterly inoperable on the surface due to weight problems, not to mention the disconnected forms of most of the designs.

Sadly for many, those experts were about to eat their own words. A militant terrorist group, Gaia's Fist, had proclaimed Japan as the worst offender in global deforestation and destruction of habitat to make way for human cities, which held some unfortunate grains of the truth. In retaliation for the perceived evils, Gaia's Fist hired a large group of hackers in the US to take control of twelve nuclear tipped ICBMs and launch them at Japan. Only two missiles were actually launched, but by then it was too late. Japan had mere minutes before the destruction of two cities and the deaths of millions. The Land of the Rising Sun's darkest hour had returned.

The world watched with baited breath as the two rockets continued their journey of devastation. Cheers echoed for a moment when one missile lost control of itself in flight and fell into the ocean without harm. There was still one rocket though, and this one had just been maintained the day before. It would not falter in its mission. It would strike its target.

The people of Tokyo were gathered together in the streets, holding hands and awaiting the end, knowing that nothing could save them now. Then just as the bloom of the rocket's exhaust became visible, it disappeared behind a massive wall of flame. The world was dazed, unsure if what they had seen was true. Silence reigned until a military fighter jet approached the place of the explosion. There, hovering still in the air was a pale metal angel armed with a sword made out of pure light. The machine, the white knight, turned to the approaching jet and held up its weapon in salute. Their savior then turned and flew off, faster than the jet could pursue. The pilot's video log was immediately uploaded to the Internet for the world to see.

Over the next few weeks Japan praised their savior, calling it a gift of mercy from the gods above. The rest of the world was in awe of what had occurred. Experts later determined that the IS had flown straight at the ICBM with a speed in excess of Mach 4, meaning that the closing speed of the two objects was approaching thirty times the speed of sound. Upon the very instant the two had met, the IS, dubbed by the world press 'The White Knight', had slashed its plasma sword straight through the hardened _heat-resistant reentry cone_ without any problem. When the super heated plasma of the blade had hit the remaining fuel, it had detonated. Even with the small amount left after its long trip there was still enough fuel to explode with the same force as several tons of TNT. Yet when the jet had flown by it mere moments afterward, the IS had been completely unscathed, shining as if it had just dropped down from heaven.

And just like that the world changed.

Frank paused here at the end of the chapter, absolutely astounded by what he had read. Not only had the events described in the book startled him with their horrible realism, but also his brain had practically exploded at what the book had implied. Japan had been struck by nuclear weapons before. _This could be my own world._

That thought was burned into Frank's mind as he ran up the stairs to Chifuyu's office and booted up the computer. Chifuyu had told him to use the guest account if he needed to access the computer as it was hers and she occasionally used it to manage her finances. Once it was up he quickly found the web browser (called Web Surf of all things) and searched for 'Japanese Modern History'. After a quick scan of the results he was surprised to see an entry from a website called Web Tropes. Curious he clicked on it and was greeted by the sight of his old friend TV Tropes with a new look and name. He then searched for 'Infinite Stratos', eager to see what his favorite snarking web nerds had to say on the subject. The link carried him to a page called 'Rise of the Powered Armor.' It gave further details of about the IS, especially on the near disaster of the ICBM launch. All of the usual dry wit and overblown emotion that Frank loved was there, as well as numerous repeats of the phrase 'Mechs are real! Blessed be Japan!"

The event had happened a bare 10 years ago, in 2034. _Two decades after I left._ If the entry on the wiki was right, Frank had been pulled nearly 30 years into the future.

_Oh this is perfect. I am at the exact best time to be experiencing this new world. If I had to be here as an adult, with a job, spouse, and some loud and bouncy kids, I wouldn't be able to appreciate this anywhere near as much. Thank God for contrived coincidence._

Frank spent the rest of the day wandering around the Internet searching for more info on IS history. While he did he picked up a few interesting tidbits about the changes the world had gone through.

In 2020 the UN officially recognized English as the first world language, and many countries introduced measures to implement it into official channels. Oddly enough the two primary English speaking countries, the US and UK, were both unaware of the move towards this measure until very late in the game, and as such were unable to take advantage of it until sometime afterward. In 2022, a massive party was held on the winter solstice to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the world not ending in 2012. Roland Emmerich was called in for a special screening of his 2009 disaster movie set in the Mayan disaster, and much fun was had by all.

A much darker footnote was the very short Second Korean War that happened three years after the unveiling of the IS. After China withdrew its support for North Korea as part of its effort to improve world relations during the run up to the Alaska Treaty covering IS usage, the northern part of the peninsula fell into an even deeper darkness than before. Out of pure desperation more than anything else, Kim Jung Un declared war with the South in a last ditch attempt to reunite the peninsula under one banner. His forces bombarded emplacements all along the DMZ and pushed forward despite heavy opposition on every front.

Faced with the endless will of a nation with nothing to lose, South Korea was forced to call upon its allies for help. In response, two teams of American and Japanese IS's were deployed to push back the communist aggressors and finally bring down the North's corrupt leadership. Less than 48 hours later the entire communist army was forced to surrender after seeing every major offensive it launched wiped out in minutes by the invincible flying death-dealers. Tanks, APCs, AA guns, SAMs, everything was hopeless to cause harm to the IS's protective shield, let alone hit their target. Whole divisions threw down their arms the instant they heard the distinctive roar of the IS's soaring overhead.

With the attacks stopped and the army effectively neutralized, the victorious IS drivers turned their attention to Pyongyang, home of Kim Jong Un and his supporting generals. It was here that they faced their first real challenge. Not from what had previously been called the worlds most in depth anti-air defense network. No, the things that threatened them were the small portions of the North Korean air force that remained operational. Before China had finally withdrawn support from their aggressive neighbors there were some sales of mildly advanced jets, including four of the extremely capable Su-35 Super Flanker design. When these jets met with the IS's in combat, the results stunned the world.

Initially confident, the American mechs easily shot down the outdated Vietnam era aircraft which raced out to meet them head on, many of the inexperienced pilots unable to even get a shot off. When they reached the city center though, things changed. It was later discovered that the squadron the Americans faced was made of up the few aces Korea could actually lay claim to, all of them well experienced from shooting down the armed Russian drones that periodically challenged the border. In the following dogfight all of the Flankers were shot down, but at the cost of three heavily damaged IS's and one dead pilot, who had unluckily caught four different missiles in the face at the same time. Flight data gathered later showed that the enemy aces had managed to hold out against twice as many IS's for nearly ten minutes, whilst still being able to coordinate with each other and time their attacks to strike the same target repeatedly.

Though the remaining mechs completed their mission and captured the North Korean government not long afterward, the battle served as a sign that the IS was not invulnerable, and that a skilled jet fighter pilot could match them in the skies. This prompted another arms race as 1st world nations restarted aircraft development and prioritized pilot training and drone production. IS drivers soon became direct rivals with pilots in their nation's air forces, the single gender of the one group eclipsed by the much more mixed make-up of the other.

In all the short conflict showed much about how the nature of war had changed with the introduction of the Infinite Stratos. Ground forces and tanks became mere placeholders in combat, meant to hold the line until the mechs could arrive and dominate the battlefield. Naval fleets were still a danger to IS's, particularly the anti-missile ships like the American Aegis, while carriers changed to carry a mix of aircraft and mechs. Nations came to measure military power in the form of how many squadrons of mechs and planes they had, and later on the models they had in stock.

Though the Alaska treaty has held, and no major nation has engaged with another IS user in open warfare, concern over the possibility is rampant throughout the industrialized world. Frank discovered that this was the exact reason the IS Academy was created. The school was meant to bring potential pilots together from all nations and to create a sense of unity and sisterhood amongst them. How well it worked was up to debate, but no wars had broken out yet, so Frank could hope that peace would remain.

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Frank was busy reading another chapter of his book when the doorbell rang downstairs. When he got down to the front door Ramina had already opened it and let Chifuyu in. The instant his sister saw him she tossed her coat at him and asked, "So, how far did you get Ichika?"

Frank wrestled the coat out of his face and said, "A few chapters in. I kinda stopped after I read something interesting and needed to do some research. You'll never believe what I found out. Come on!" With that he grabbed Chifuyu's hand and dragged her upstairs, unaware of the shocked expression on her face.

Some time later, after Frank had shown her all his research proving where and when he was from, Chifuyu was sitting on the on the bed contemplating while Frank was putting away some laundry he'd cleaned earlier. "So you're actually from the past. This is very interesting."

"I know right," Frank said while hanging up a shirt. "It means everything I used on the Internet before I left is still there. I just have to look for it."

Chifuyu snorted, causing Frank to laugh at how much more open she was when here at home. "I was thinking more along the lines of finding your family. If only to make it easier to understand you."

A loud clattering came from the closet as Frank turned around inside. "You're not serious are you? Please tell me you're not really thinking about that."

Chifuyu was genuinely shocked at this. This was the first time she'd heard Frank be afraid of something. His terror was heartrending. Concerned, the older woman asked in a light tone, "Why don't you want to see your family? What are you afraid of?"

Frank's face tightened for a moment as he said, "Let's just say me and my father didn't exactly see eye to eye." He turned around and continued sorting out clothes, whispering quietly, "Not every family is a good one, sis. Sometimes it's better to be on your own."

Chifuyu looked at her brother, wondering what his father could have done to him to make them both hate each other so much. She jolted when she realized that Frank's skill with cooking and cleaning might not be a wholly good thing. Keeping her voice steady wasn't easy, but she had a lot of practice at it. "Were household chores one of the things you 'disagreed' on?"

Frank chuckled at the question. "No. That was something my mother taught me. She knew my dad was absolutely hopeless at housework, so she taught me to do it instead. Good thing too, or else…" His voice trailed off as he held a light blue suit, one that Chifuyu hadn't worn in a long time. "Or else we would have been truly lost without her."

Chifuyu recognized the phrasing that he used. "I'm sorry."

Frank's smile returned as he put the last shirt on its hanger and said, "It's okay. It happened years ago and I'm over it now. I still sometimes miss her, but I know better than to dwell on it. Just gotta keep moving forward after all."

The rest of the night was spent going over more of Ichika's childhood with Chifuyu, thankfully with RT watching a movie in the other room.

As it turned out Ichika's 8th birthday was the exact day of the unveiling of the IS, as well as the terrifying events that followed. Thanks to the White Knight's intervention they all survived and Chifuyu immediately wanted to become an IS pilot so that she could protect Ichika. Luckily she was actually best friends with the designer in school and…

A loud thumping noise interrupted the woman. Chifuyu paused in her story telling to help Frank up off the floor. "She was your best friend?! But you were 14! I checked the dates earlier today. That would have to mean that…"

"Yes," Chifuyu said in a deadpan. "Tabane was the same age as me when she invented the IS." Chifuyu didn't bother to help her brother off the floor this time and opted to continue with her story.

Anyway, Tabane was more than happy enough to give her best friend an IS and tricked her out with one of the very best. The _Byakushiki_ was a lightning fast demon of a mech wielding an epically powerful plasma sword. Problem was that was its only armament, and when it often went up against other IS's which had everything from machine guns to plasma cannons it could be rather difficult to work with. At least, it would have been for another pilot. Chifuyu seemed to handle it just fine. Turns out having a but-ton of kendo and martial arts training combined with a natural talent at IS piloting makes one a bit of a badass. So Chifuyu spent the next few years learning how to fly an IS to the best of her ability, making sure that Ichika safely started school and did his best at learning. Frank silently gave her props for not only becoming a master pilot in so little time but also taking care of her brother at the same time.

Once Chifuyu proved herself to be one of the most talented pilots in the world, Japan asked her to go on the international circuit in the new set of IS sports that had taken the world by storm. She agreed, but only if the government would pay her enough to take care of herself and her brother. For the next few years, life calmed down somewhat for the two siblings. Chifuyu would go traveling for the IS sports season to make money while Ichika went to school and took care of the house. By the time her third season had rolled around Chifuyu was a household name among IS fans and was in the running for the world championships. At the end of the fourth season she was invited to the tournament at the end of the year and swept her way through the early rounds. Just as she was about to fight in her title match though, disaster struck.

Ichika had been watching the tournament back at home and was taken hostage by a terrorist group hoping to co-opt his sister into working for them. Very big mistake. Even though leaving before the match would result in her being disqualified, Chifuyu immediately abandoned the arena and found the terrorist headquarters in a matter of hours. Once she did the group ceased to exist and Ichika was freed without harm.

The reigning champ later expressed regret that she could not have her match with Chifuyu. She had been the first opponent she had that had represented a challenge. Sadly the tournament rules were very specific and there was no overruling them. Worse than that though was the fact that Chifuyu was now obligated to visit Germany to help train some potential pilots they had due to the fact that they had provided her with the terrorists' location. That next year had been very stressful for Chifuyu as she learned how to be a teacher to a group of young girls while at the same time trying her best to keep sending messages back to Ichika, who had been forced into hiding for his own safety. Frank could easily see how her story about his personality change could fit into the circumstances, so much so that he wondered how Ichika had not changed in that time at least somewhat.

Not everything was bad about the trip though. Chifuyu met Asuka there, later bringing her to the Academy for more training, as well as learning how to be a teacher. Now that her time on the professional circuit was brought to a premature end due to the controversy surrounding her saving of Ichika, the IS Academy Board decided to bring her on as a teacher. Unfortunately she was no longer allowed to pilot her IS anymore due to pressures from other countries. They had heard ominous rumors of her, (that Chifuyu refused to expand upon), and refused to allow her to continue piloting.

"Were you pissed about that?"

Chifuyu was silent for a moment as she thought about her answer. "At first, yes. Had I been impulsive about it I probably would have told them where to stuff their concerns and go right on piloting. But I thought it through and realized it was the best option. Teaching at the school meant a stable income and constant access to you, not to mention I actually enjoyed it a lot. Plus being a pilot for me wasn't as fun as it was for other people. I could never convince myself to just enjoy it. It was always a means to an end, either getting enough money to take care of us or just to protect Ichika. I never really had a chance to play around in the IS as much as I probably should. Maybe in a few years, after everyone forgets about me and the past is a little more distant, I'll get another shot at the big time. Maybe I'll even be able to have a little fun with it. Until then though, I am perfectly happy with being a teacher. Heck, I get to teach my own little brother. What's not to like about that?"

Frank smiled then walked over and gave his sister a hug. He could feel her tense up at the unexpected contact, but relaxed a bit when he said, "It's good to have someone to look out for you. Just don't forget to take care of yourself too."

Chifuyu remained still for a moment while Frank hugged her, and then eventually returned the gestured with a few light taps. She tried not to look relieved when the contact ended, and instead smiled slightly then sent him off to bed, though not before smacking him a bit for catching her off guard like that.

Chuckling at the reaction, Frank made his way to bed, reflecting on how nice it was to have a real family member after so long on his own.

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The rest of the week passed surprisingly quickly for Frank. He finished the book on the second day and switched to Internet sources for more information. Everything he found just made him more excited for school to start in a few days. While he did he kept on managing the house and getting lessons from Chifuyu on 'his' past.

Ichika had not been entirely on his own for all the years Chifuyu had been busy taking care of him. He had first made friends with Tabane's younger sister Houki in kendo class. They had been best friends for several years when the IS was revealed and suddenly every criminal and their mother was after Tabane to get their own IS. Because of this the two sisters were forced to go into hiding, and Ichika lost one of his best friends for many years. Chifuyu warned that Houki would be in his class at school, so he'd better be sure and explain about the memory loss story or there would be trouble.

After that Chifuyu talked about his other friend Rin, who was a Chinese immigrant who had lived with her grandparents in a local restaurant. Rin basically took over the spot that Houki used to fill, though Rin never actually knew that while she'd lived here. She stayed for several years but moved away after her father had to go back to China for wok. She too would be at the IS Academy, as the Chinese representative no less. Thankfully she would be in another class, though Chifuyu mentioned that that might not be enough to fully dissuade Rin from searching him out. Frank became somewhat nervous at that, but held his peace. He'd watched his friends deal with crazy obsessed girls before. How hard could it be?

After that there was a bunch of stuff about Japanese etiquette that he had to listen to, though he doubted he would use just about any of it. Learning how to use chopsticks was helpful though, especially now that he was making proper Japanese meals for dinner. Chifuyu actually applauded his efforts, saying that he was just as good as he was before, if not better now that he officially learned the recipes.

On the last day before class Chifuyu gave him a manual that detailed how to pilot and maintain his IS. He was only expected to learn the first few chapters, as the rest required some more information as a base that he would learn in class, but it would still give him a competitive edge on his classmates. Reportedly it had been Asuka's idea and Frank loudly thanked her in such a way that RT would be sure to tell her about it.

He managed to convince Chifuyu to bring him to school so he could watch some of the placement tests by the other students. He had to disguise himself somewhat for the journey and sit up in the observation box with the Board members, but it was worth it to see the fights. Most of the students could only just manage to run their machines around for a few minutes before the instructors pummeled them into the ground, but a few fought back.

The first that caught his attention was a girl with waist length jet-black hair and a look that just dared anyone to question her. When she got into her IS it took only a few seconds for her to adjust, proving that the girl had been in an IS before. The instructor must have noticed this as well, as she immediately started the fight portion of the test. The trainee really held her own for a while, use a simple sword that the standard IS's had, (that he had not be aware of, Gagh!), to great effect blocking and reflecting her attacker's hits. It wasn't enough though as the green haired instructor eventually stopped holding back and disarmed her in an instant. He applauded the girl heartily with the rest of the board, impressed with what he had seen.

The next pilot to catch his eye was a small girl with brown hair tied up with twin yellow ribbons that walked out onto the field on her own. He was surprised, because every other girl had used a practice IS that was already on the field. He swiftly figured it out though when he spied the metal bracelet on her wrist, showing that she had a personal IS to use. _This must be one of the national representatives. I wonder where she's from._

After her instructor walked out on the field, once again the green haired woman with the large… tracts of land, the girl summoned her IS with a swish of her arm. The IS was small and sharp-looking, sporting a black and magenta color scheme and multiple spikey growths. The battle that followed was the best of the day, as the instructor used her speed and range to stay away from the close quarters optimized IS used by the trainee. Frank was practically jumping up and down in his seat as the magenta IS tried multiple times to blast her enemy at point blank range, but the instructor was just too quick. In the end the match was a loss for the trainee, though most of the Board members around him took special note of the girl's tenacity and strength.

The rest of the day was rather dull as the remaining students tried and failed to make any headway against their opponents. Frank tried to look for Asuka, but his red-haired teacher was nowhere in sight. Once all of the students had finished their try-outs Chifuyu came and picked him up for the car drive home. On the way back he asked about the two girls whose fights had interested him and found out that they were his two childhood friends, Houki and Rin. Surprised, but oddly pleased, he talked with Chifuyu about the fights, arguing on the good decisions and costly mistakes both had made in combat.

That night Frank had a hard time sleeping for a while, mind racing as he continued to review the fights from earlier that day. Just before consciousness left him, he heard the door open and caught a glimpse of Chifuyu quietly checking in on him. He smiled and settled down at last, comforted that he had someone looking out for him. _Thanks for everything Chifuyu. You're a good sister._


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again dear readers. I must apologize for the delayed update. There are several reasons for it. 1, my laptop finally got back from the repair shop (a full month after it was supposed to. Idiots) and I had to use it to catch up on some school work. 2, I kinda sorta ran out of pre-written stuff. I have a fair bit of work to do. Anyway, please enjoy the latest chapter. Don't forget to read and review. Oh and if any of you are tropers, then feel free to recommend this. Do that, and I will give you 9001 internet cookies (don't worry, I'm good for them). Into the Madness!

Chapter 3

Frank had been sitting at his desk, legs propped up and hands behind his head for nearly twenty minutes when the first student arrived in the class. He didn't immediately notice them though due to his daydreaming nap. So when the girl woke him up by yelling, "Ichika!" from the door, he was a little startled. Startled enough to slip out of his chair and fall to the floor in a heap.

"Whoa, hey! Who's there?" His speech was slightly slurred somewhat from his landing. "Why you make 'a me fall outta my chair?"

The girl, who had very long black hair tied up in a loose ponytail by a red and white bow, stared at him with her cobalt eyes, as if pleading for something. She wore the standard school uniform, a white blazer with long sleeves and a skirt, similar to Frank's own, though with the obvious change of him having pants. She was very pretty, in an aloof and unreachable sort of way._ Kinda like Chifuyu, only she's drop dead gorgeous. _Frank's wandering thoughts were brought to heel when the girl asked, "What are you doing here Ichika?"

Frank lifted himself off the floor, dusting off his pants as he did so. "I'm here as the world's first male IS pilot, and I plan to be one of the best." His face adopted a confused look as he continued, "Wait, you already know my name. Do I know you from somewhere?"

The girl started trembling slightly, though Frank was too busy looking off into his memory to notice. "You don't remember me?" she asked, her voice quivering.

Frank snapped his fingers as the thought returned to him. "Oh yeah! Now I remember. You were one of the students I watched in the matches yesterday. Chifuyu told me your name but I've gone and forgotten it." He sighed, shaking his head at himself. "I am so bad with names. Honestly. I have to spend a lot of time around a person just to get it memorized and…"

At that point the girl snapped and charged at him out of nowhere. Caught off guard, Frank screamed comically as the girl tackled him to the ground and started slamming his head against the tile. At least, she tried to do that. Frank was fast enough to slip out from under her grasp on the floor and started leaping over desks and chairs, trying to put some distance between himself and the psycho behind him. "Damnit, what the hell was that for?" He freaked out as soon as he said that because he spotted the girl following behind him, knocking over everything in her path to get at him.

"You worthless idiot! I was your best friend for five years and you go and forget about me!?" At this point there were very few things left standing and poor Frank was cowering behind the teacher's desk, hoping she wouldn't remove his last piece of cover.

"It's not my fault. Complete amnesia doesn't exactly let you pick and choose which memories to keep."

The girl paused in her assault, which Frank was infinitely grateful for, and she fixed him with a sunburn-inducing glare. "What do you mean?"

So Frank quickly went over the events of his arrival day, leaving out any mention of him being from the past. The girl's expression gradually softened as he explained, till finally she was sitting atop one of the few desks that were still upright. "So you don't remember anything. You don't even remember us being friends."

Frank winced at her forlorn tone and said, "No, but I know that we were friends. Chifuyu talked about you a lot while she was reeducating me. You were my best friend when I was young. That's gotta count for something right?"

She turned away and looked out the window at the sky beyond. "Maybe it did before. Now…"

"Now that means we'll just have to start over," Frank said with a smile.

Houki glanced back at him, confusion mixed with hope in her eyes.

"I don't know anyone at this school, except maybe two of the teachers, and one of those is my sister. Even if I still had my memories that number probably wouldn't be that much better. You are one of the only people here who actually knows my name, who won't see me as 'OMGee! It's the boy! He's so cute and handsome and alone and…' Bleech! Point is, you'd see me as who I am, maybe even better than I could see myself. So what do you say? Want to start over?" He held out his hand with a grin, hoping against hope that he hadn't just made a fool of himself in front of this girl.

Houki stared at him, appearing conflicted with herself. It didn't take her long to decide though, as she reached out and gladly shook his hand. "Sure, why not?"

The two new friends spent the next few minutes repairing the classroom, talking about themselves to pass the time. Frank learned that Houki was a kendo master, her favorite color was bright red, and she had a kickass poker face. Having much less to go on due to his pretend memory loss, Frank gave a play by play of his match with Asuka, managing to impress and surprise his new friend with his roundabout victory. She was most surprised that Frank knew martial arts now, apparently because her memories from back in their junior kendo classes told a very different story of Ichika's view on fighting. Frank tried to explain that away by saying that being left alone for a year immediately after being kidnapped by a terrorist organization changes a person, to which she had no argument.

They had just finished fixing the chairs when the next set of students came in. They were a small clique of girls, chattering amongst themselves when they spotted Frank and fell silent. Frank ignored them and sat next to Houki up front, taking out a book and starting to read. His general plan for handling all of the female attention he knew he was going to garner was to ignore those too shy to speak to him but be polite to those who could muster up the will. It seemed to be working so far, as the girls fled to the back of the class and started whispering quietly, throwing the occasional glance his way when they got curious.

"Not very subtle are they?" he commented to Houki. She just rolled her eyes in response, then leaned over and pretended to mutter something in his ear, sending the girls behind him into a muted tizzy. Frank turned and eyed Houki with a smirk. "You are just evil you know that?" She merely smiled and stared out the window again, no longer paying their watchers any attention.

More and more girls poured into the class over the next few minutes, each reacting to him exactly the same as the previous group. Frank actually started counting how long it took them to go through the full cycle, awarding points based on how fast they were.

The class was about half full when the cycle was broken by a newcomer. She had long blond hair held back by an aqua hair band whose color matched the eyes that Frank felt fall on him. "And just what is a boy doing in here? This is a school for girls." Her voice was very haughty and regal, betraying her nationality to Frank almost immediately. _British nobility, eh? Oh this will be fun._

Frank turned to her with a confused face, saying in a falsetto, "But I am a girl. Can't you tell how pretty I am?" Houki clapped her hands over her mouth to hold in her laughter, though she went unnoticed by the blond girl.

"Ha ha, very funny. You haven't answered my question yet. Tell me why you're here before I call the guards to remove you."

Frank smiled and casually leaned back in his chair. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here as a student, same as you."

The blond scoffed and threw a lock of her hair out of her face as she said, "Impossible. Everyone knows that males cannot pilot the IS. They have never been accepted by the IS cores and are therefore unworthy of piloting them."

Frank felt his eye twitch in annoyance at the girl's arrogance, but kept himself civil as he said, "Well I'm the exception to the rule." He smiled at the girl politely, taking great pleasure in her visible annoyance.

The girl sputtered for a bit then switched to a self-assured smile as she said, "Well, you may be 'able' to pilot, but can you fight? I defeated an instructor in my placement match. How did you do?"

Frank gave a nonchalant shrug and said, "Eh, I got a tie. No big whoop." Houki started snickering beside him so he elbowed her softly to keep her quiet.

"Oh, and who did you tie against? Bridget? Yamada? Mary?" Most of the class giggled at that last one.

_I don't know who this Mary is, but she sounds just like Raditz. _"Nah, it wasn't any of them. Oh what was her name? Chifuyu introduced me to her after the match. I think it started with an A." He started tapping his chin, pretending to be thoughtful. "Oh yeah. I remember now. It was Asuka."

"Asuka?!" The blond girl backed up several steps upon hearing what he'd said, and the rest of the class fell utterly silent.

"Yeah. Apparently she's going to be our teacher this year. Isn't that right Miss Asuka?"

"Damn straight!" Everyone turned to the door to see the infamous German waltz in the door. She wore a bright red blouse that perfectly matched her hair and a pair of black slacks that contrasted well with her top. Her smile was intimidating predatory as she stood behind her desk staring at all the students. "Well, how come you're not in your seats?"

The students all panicked and started racing to the nearest desk, chairs scraping loudly as everyone pushed around each other in a mad dash. Frank and Houki just sat in their seats smiling at their classmates, laughing inside at the wonderfully silly expressions they all made as they ran around. The blond haired girl ended up sitting on Frank's right, something that she want not very happy about if the scowl on her face was any indication.

Once the noise died down Asuka swept her eyes around the classroom, her emerald irises just daring anyone to be out of place. "That's better. Alright class, welcome to your first year here at the Academy. My name is Asuka Belvara, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the next year. Some words of warning. I will not tolerate any goofing off in my class. When you are in here, you are here to learn. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. That said, you will find me to be much more flexible than most teachers. If you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask. My office is always open if you need to see me. Also, I expect you all to work together. This school doesn't just teach piloting skills. It also shows you how to work as a team. Be willing to help out your classmates and they will be there to help you too. You kids got all that?"

Many of the students made various noises in affirmation, and everyone was paying full attention. "Good, now we can get started with the introductions. Seat order, starting from the back. Name, rank, and one interesting fact about yourself. Go."

Frank tried his best to pay attention but he knew it was pointless. He wouldn't remember half of these names before the class was even done, and he knew for a fact none of them would be remembered by the end of the day. When they finally reached the front row the blond girl stood up and announced, "Cecilia Alcott, Rank 3 and British representative for this year." Frank mentally gave himself several points for being right on every guess, save for the name. He had bet it would be something starting with B, but that would be a little too obvious.

Then it was his turn. He stood up, making sure he was as relaxed as possible in his posture, and said, "My name is Ichika Orimura, Rank 3. I am the younger brother of Chifuyu Orimura and the first male IS pilot." He added on a smirk to his face and said, "And before any of you try to ask: No, I am not currently seeking any relationships at this time so please refrain from bothering me on the subject." A loud groan echoed through the classroom, though it immediately died out when Asuka swept them with a glare.

Houki stood up after him, saying, "Houki Shinonono, Rank 2, younger sister of Tabane Shinonono." A slight smile appeared on her face as she continued, "And no, I cannot tell anyone where she lives, so don't ask." No groan this time, but Frank could tell from the shifts in some seats that several people were disappointed about that.

"All right, if that's everyone…"

"Don't forget about me." There at the door was Chifuyu, wearing her trademark (no seriously, she has a trademark) black suit cut high up on the thighs and with a slit up the side.

Frank was about to greet her when his hearing suddenly suffered a powerful strike from the dozens of girly screams behind him. He checked his ears afterward to make sure they weren't bleeding.

_"It's really quite a sight to see so many idiots gathered here every year. Are they all coming just for my classes?" She regained her stoic stature and said, "I am Chifuyu Orimura, and I am the Administrator of year 1. You will come to me for any and all questions not pertaining to classes, including housing and travel. Also, just because I am well known does not give you the excuse to visit me on a whim. Only come to my office if you have a legitimate reason, or else I'll have Asuka here manage your punishment."_

_Everyone turned to Asuka, whose smile had morphed into a very mischievous grin. They all quietly shuddered. Nobody was willing to risk Asuka's punishment, no matter what the prize._

_Frank noticed the relative quiet and used it to his advantage. "Hey sis," he said while giving her a small wave._

_Chifuyu visibly rolled her eyes and replied, "Mr. Orimura, while we are in school our familial relationship must be put aside. You shall refer to me as either Miss Orimura or Ma'am. Is that clear?"_

_"You got it ma'am." Frank grinned at the subtle twitch which resulted, but remained silent so as to not push his luck._

_Chifuyu left after saying a few words to Asuka, making sure to shoot Frank a very withering glare as she exited. After that the class officially started. The next two hours were spent going over IS history and current usage, stuff Frank already knew but took notes on anyway. He wanted to be the best pilot possible, so he was going to be the best damn student possible. Plus he wouldn't put it past Asuka to have a test on this stuff right away, and he was far less familiar with it than everyone else. They had just finished covering the list of active military conflicts involving IS's (the list was __very __short) when the bell sounded and it was time for lunch._

_Frank followed Houki to the lunchroom, trying his very best to be as unnoticeable as possible. Thankfully most of the girls were too busy talking amongst themselves to notice him, and he made it to the cafeteria unmolested._

_Once he got in line he was surprised by the wide variety of food that was available, everything from cheeseburgers and tacos to what looked like several spicy curries down at one end. Frank nabbed himself several slices of cheese pizza for himself and sat down with Houki in a corner booth. When asked about his food choices, he hand waved it as a personal vice he'd developed while alone for a year. If it was just him at home, what was the point of making a full meal? Hence his newfound love of take out. To his relief the girl accepted his argument. She still seemed nervous around him but Frank tried to be casual and relaxed, which seemed to help a bit._

_He was halfway through his second slice, listening to Houki talk about a past kendo match when from out of nowhere Cecilia popped up and asked to sit down. Curious what she wanted he granted her permission to sit. A quick look at Houki confirmed that she was suspicious of the other girl, though she was remarkably good at hiding it. "So, Cecilia, what sort of stuff do you do as a national representative?"_

_The blond looked surprised at the question but soon answered in her haughty manner. "Well, as Britain's nation representative my job is to learn how to be a great IS pilot and show to the world the best of our IS development." She went on like that for several minutes, blabbing on and on about the importance of appearance and diplomatic tact. He tried not to look bored. When she finished she asked a return question that caught Frank off guard. "What was your match with Asuka like?" She actually sounded very interested, so Frank acquiesced and told the story._

_Houki returned to her rice ball, content to ignore Ichika retelling the match again. As fun as it was the first time it got dull when you already knew what happened. She watched him talk out of the corner of her eye and took note of his boundless enthusiasm. He punctuated every retold blow with a concurrent swish of his arm, talking animatedly and making faces to show his emotions at the time. It was so different from the Ichika she remembered. __Maybe that's not such a bad thing. __She was startled at the thought but found herself agreeing with it after a moment. This Ichika was relaxed, friendly, and not nearly so much of an idiot as he was before. __No. Not bad at all._

_Frank finished his story with a flourish, rating himself quite the showman in his head. Unbeknownst to him many of the girls nearby had been listening in on his conversation and were now whispering about it to those who had not heard._

_Cecilia looked somewhat awed at the story, her mouth hanging open before Frank tapped the table and brought her out of it. "Well," she said as she tried to compose herself, "that is very remarkable. I don't think I've heard of anyone beating Asuka in a training match before. She was Chifuyu's best student. The fact that you beat her, despite the fact that you'd never piloted before is just incredible."_

_Frank smiled at the praise, relaxed against the booth with his hands behind his head. "Yeah, I am pretty awesome aren't I?"_

_Houki rolled her eyes and poked him with her chopstick, saying, "You only got lucky. If Asuka had been prepared and knew what you were capable of you wouldn't have stood a chance."_

_Frank sobered up at the reminder, and nodded his head in understanding._

_"Still, the fact that the first male IS pilot ever could do so well on his first outing is pretty encouraging isn't it?" Houki said while lifting a wad of rice to her mouth. "Even if he is a bit of a fool." _Frank gasped in mock pain, holding his hands over his heart.

Cecilia rushed to stifle a laugh at his antics and said, "You may be right about that. From what I heard, nobody gets away with taunting Chifuyu for long. You should probably watch yourself Ichika."

Seeing that the tide was against him, Frank decided to return to his pizza, chewing loudly to let the two girls know he wasn't speaking to them.

Cecilia noticed this and said, "Personally I'm worried about you, Ichika." At his quizzical look she continued, explaining, "The IS cores have been rejecting males as pilots for nearly ten years. Who's to say that they've really changed their mind about you? What if they decide that you're no longer worthy and try to sabotage you? It might be dangerous to have you be in an IS until more is known about why you were chosen."

Frank swallowed the last of his pizza and said, "You talk about the IS cores as if they are sentient or something. I thought they were just really advanced computer systems."

Houki shook her head. "No. They are far more than that. Tabane explained to me – well, tried to explain to me – that the IS core is sort of a mechanical analogue to the human mind. I have no idea how they work, but I've seen them act in ways that are very similar to humans before. Tabane once tried to program one to operate a microwave as a joke, and in response every screen in the lab started flashing with a message that said 'In your dreams lady'. She was delighted at the time, but I've always worried about them ever since. Think about it. Every IS pilot in the world has what is basically another mind sitting inside them that allows them to control an IS. If the cores ever decided that they didn't want to serve us anymore, there would be nothing we could do about it."

Frank, who had been looking back and forth between the two girls as they talked laughed and said, "You two are being paranoid. If those cores are practically human, then they have to know all about our worries about 'The Rise of the Machines' and not do something to provoke us. Besides, they probably enjoy IS piloting just as much as us. Why the hell would they give that up?" Neither girl had an answer to that, so Frank continued on with a question. "Hey, Houki, is it possible for me to communicate with the IS core directly? You know, so I can figure out how to appease it so it won't sabotage me out of nowhere."

Both girls stared at him in bewilderment, not sure how to respond to his question. Neither of them had ever even imagined trying to talk with their IS cores before. The concept was just surreal. Finally Houki shook herself and answered, "I don't think you can do that Ichika. The cores don't really interact with us at all."

Frank nodded then sighed theatrically. "Oh well. Guess I'll just have to deal with the threat of a possibly mad AI hiding inside my head waiting to screw me just when I might need it. Shouldn't be too hard."

Cecilia stared at him in bewilderment while Houki decided to just let it go and went back to her rice ball.

Frank noticed that the subject was dropped and asked Cecilia a question. "So Miss national representative, what made you decide to join us for lunch? I didn't exactly get the best of vibes from you back in class."

Cecilia stuttered for a moment, saying, "Well I… that is I just…" She sighed, holding her hands in front of her face. "I guess that I was expecting you to be – how did Mom put it – mean and misogynistic. I mean, men have been put down in society for the past decade. It's more than possible that the first male pilot would be extremely jaded and cynical. When I heard you bragging in class, and don't you dare deny that it wasn't bragging," Frank put down his hands of protest, "I just thought that you would be exactly as my mother predicted. But then you started joking with Chifuyu and I saw you smiling like an idiot. In a good way," she said to assuage Frank's questioning eyebrow. "You weren't overly callous or aggressive, even when I was trying to get under your skin. In short, you weren't what I expected, so I wanted to know why."

Frank said nothing, preferring to look into Cecilia's eyes while he thought about what she'd said. After a few moments of contemplation he said, "Well, I guess fools come in pairs then. To be honest when I first saw you I thought you were one of those bossy, know-it-all, stuck up bi… uh, witches. I typecast you the moment I saw you, even though I hadn't heard you say a word. It's my fault really. If I hadn't assumed to know what you were like, I probably would have been nicer from the start. Sorry."

Houki glanced back and forth between her two table mates, bewildered as to how the conversation had veered in this direction. Even further to her shock was the hand shake of forgiveness the two shared immediately after.

"So, we are in agreement that we were complete dicks to each other and will refrain from being so in the future," Ichika asked with some raised eyebrows.

Cecilia smiled and said in return, "That seems to be a reasonable agreement. Thank goodness I came and talked you about this, or else who knows what would have happened."

Frank rubbed his hair in embarrassment. "Actually I was just about to challenge you to fight in the next class. I was going to trick you into telling me how it was done and try to fool you into thinking I would be an easy victory. I figured that if I could win a fight with you when you didn't expect me to be a challenge you would stop being so stuck up and be willing to leave me alone. Great plan huh?"

"Yeah it was, except for one thing."

Frank looked at her in confusion. "What?"

The blond smiled. "You assumed that you would win in the match. As good as you would have to be to beat Asuka like that, you still only fought her in a power limited testing match. In an actual match against a prepared opponent you wouldn't stand a chance."

Frank rolled his eyes and said, "Why do you think I was trying to trick you? I wanted you to underestimate me and not take the match seriously. That way I could pull out a surprise tactic that would let me win. Plus I wasn't going to set the match for the next day. I was going to take a week to train up first, get some actual experience under my belt before my first real fight. I'm not stupid," he said with folded arms.

Cecilia sat back, a thoughtful look on her face. She then smiled and said, "No, I guess you're not stupid at all. That doesn't mean you would have won."

Frank crossed his arms at her. "How do you figure that?"

"I heard you say in class, to my face, that you had beaten Asuka in your training match. No matter what you acted like afterwards I would have to take that into account when dealing with you. So you could have been convincing as your heart desired but it wouldn't make any difference. I would have fought you at my best anyway. I never take a fight casually."

Frank looked at her in surprise and said, "Oh. Looks like I dodged a bullet there then. Still, I think I could take you in a fight. With enough training. And a good IS. And you having an off day for some reason. It's a definite 15% chance. Maybe 20%."

Houki just shook her head at him and admonished, "You may be skilled Ichika, but you wouldn't stand a chance against anyone who had experience with the IS. How long have you been flying for Cecilia?"

The blond gave off a proud smile and answered, "Since I was fourteen, so about two years now." Her smile morphed to a smirk as she glanced at Ichika. "Natural talent can only take you so far Ichika. There is a very good reason I'm Britain's national representative."

Frank sighed. "Well then why don't you both help me train eh?"

They both looked at him in surprise at the suggestion. "Really Ichika?" Cecilia asked. "You want us to train you?"

"Sure, why not? Cecilia you clearly know a lot more about piloting than me, and Houki here is the sister of the bloody inventor, so she should be able to help me with the mechanics of how they work. It fits pretty well."

The two girls shared a glance, as if asking each other if they had heard the same thing. "I guess that wouldn't be a bad idea Ichika. After our first training session on the field we can talk to the instructor about scheduling some private practice time once classes are over each day."

Frank nodded then looked over at Houki; silently asking her if this was okay. To his glee, she acquiesced, saying, "If this is what you want to do Ichika, then I won't stop you. I'm going to be putting you through a lot of exercises though. Pilots have to be physically healthily to be at their best. Besides," she said while poking him, "I'll have to remind you just who is the better fighter between us. My kendo stick is waiting."

Frank gulped very loudly and picked up his plate. "Well, would you look at that? I'm all done with my meal. I'm going to go take care of that. We will continue this conversation never." He then beat a hasty retreat to the dish drop off, leaving the two girls laughing hysterically at the table.

"He is very strange isn't he?" Cecilia said as she wiped some tears from her eyes.

"Yeah," Houki agreed as she gathered up her tray. "I'm not sure when he got so weird, but it is very amusing." She then stared hard at the blond, making sure that their eyes were looked as she said, "Just know that Ichika is my best friend - has been for years - and that he and I were separated for many years because of the IS. If anyone tries to harm him in any way, I will be there to stop them. So keep that in mind. I am willing to trust him with finding new friends, but I will not hesitate to get rid of any that try to hurt him."

Cecilia scooted back in her chair when she saw the extremely strong look she was being given. She didn't falter though and managed to say, "I understand what you're saying. Ichika seems like a really nice guy and I'm not here to make enemies. So you have nothing to worry about from me." She looked at Houki questioningly and asked, "Just how close are you and Ichika anyway?"

It was Houki's turn to appear nervous, as she shuffled a bit in the booth. "I… I don't know." She turned to look at Ichika as he was getting rid of his plate, holding his head high and ignoring the unwanted attention of the various girls in the lunch room. "Like I said earlier, we were friends for a long time but then we were separated for nearly as long. Today is the first time I've seen him since I had to leave. He's changed so much that… I just don't know how I feel."

They were both looked at each other, unsure of what to say. The ice was thankfully broken by Ichika coming back and asking if they were ready to leave. Cecilia's face reflected her surprise at the offer. "You want me to go with you?"

Frank shrugged and said, "Yeah of course. What you think we just went through that whole apologizing thing and aren't going to come out of it friends?"

Cecilia gaped at him, making Frank look back at her in confusion. "What?"

Shaking her head to clear out the surprised thoughts, Cecilia quickly stood up and said, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Shall we go?"

Frank threw a glance at Houki, who was busy walking after Cecilia with her bowls and plate. "Did I miss something?"

As the three of them left they all felt the eyes of everyone in the room watching them. Nobody said anything though, so they just kept walking. When they neared the exit Frank was quietly thankful of the fact that no one was approaching them. He just might get out of here unscathed!

He was wrong of course.

The instant he and the girls had left the lunchroom Frank was glomped from the side and fell to the floor. He tried to free himself but his arms were pinned, so he looked down at his captor and saw some familiar looking yellow bows. "Uh, hi there miss. It's nice to meet you too but could you please let me go? I only have so much oxygen left."

The girl released him, apologizing profusely as she helped him up. Houki and Cecilia were standing on either side of him, ready to help him if the girl attacked again. Frank took a moment to dust himself off, muttering under his breath, "Nice to see you again ground. You're really my best friend around here." After purging himself of any remaining anger he turned to the girl who had glomped him and said, "You must be Rin. A, uh, pleasure to meet you at last."

"Meet me? What do you mean Ichika?" Rin had her hands on her hips, her bright emerald eyes staring him down with a sharp look. As he remembered her hair was a light brown and was tied up in twin tails by the yellow ribbons. The thing that stood out the most about her though was the fact that one of her incisors was showing over her lower lip, lending her an almost feline appearance that was somewhat intimidating.

Frank sighed loudly and said in a monotone, "I got amnesia last week when I got my IS core. I have forgotten everything from before that point. Because of that my only knowledge my past is what my sister Chifuyu has told me." He stood back, waiting for the explosion.

"Are you kidding me!? Do you seriously think that I'm going to fall for something that stupid? You just want to hide that fact that you don't want to be friends with me! Then you'd have an excuse to go ahead and date someone else?" The incensed girl turned on Cecilia and Houki and asked accusingly, "So which one of you two is it?"

His two friends glaring angrily at Rin, Frank sighed and said, "Gee, thanks for the faith." He held his arms out to keep Cecilia and Houki back and then continued. "Look I know it's hard to believe. It's a rather fantastic thing to happen out of nowhere, and I don't mean the in a good way. But I'm serious. I lost everything, even my own name. Houki here used to be my childhood friend and I forgot about her as well. I'm not trying to push you away from being my friend. I'm telling you that I'm sorry I forgot you."

Rin glared at him but did not speak. She started tapping her foot and folded her arms, switching her stares between the three every so often. Frank stayed silent, refusing to flinch under her vicious looks.

Cecilia was annoyed to say the least. She had just learned at lunch that she had come dangerously close to making a permanent enemy of the world's first male IS pilot. It was only through some serious self-examination and throwing away everything her mother had said about males, (which was not easy), that she was able to overcome her mistake and make friends with someone she'd insulted. And now this girl just appears and attacks him for no reason.

Well, not quite no reason. From what she could tell the girl had been friends with Ichika several years ago and was pissed that he had forgotten her. But he had just explained that he had amnesia, so this 'Rin' had no excuse to be upset with him.

She caught herself wondering why she cared so much about this. So what if this one girl was angry at him? It's not like it mattered in the long term. He was bound to make enemies eventually.

But that was just it. He hadn't tried to upset her, nor was he purposely antagonizing her. She was the one causing the problem by not accepting what he said. Then again, how would Cecilia take it if she heard one of her friends from long ago say that they had completely forgotten about her while they were gone? Okay, maybe the girl had a point to her anger.

Cecilia recognized the endless circle this line of thought would lead her down and resolved to follow Ichika's lead on this matter. It was his honor that was being insulted so his choice was what was real important.

Houki meanwhile was silently regretting the fact that she had neglected to bring her kendo stick with her. If this Rin had any sense she would not tempt her any further. The brunette's temper may be very obvious, but Houki had one that was considered legendary by those who knew her. The girl wouldn't stand a chance.

The fact that Houki had been through this exact same situation a mere few hours before was a strange irony that she tried to ignore. After all, she may have been extremely mad at him, justifiably so, but she had never thought of it as deliberate. The Ichika she knew was naive and a bit of an idiot but he would never try to harm her on purpose, either physically or emotionally. That Rin here would accuse him of willful negligence just grated on her.

In the end though, her sense of honor prevented her from assaulting the girl without direct personal provocation and since Ichika was not taking offense from his glomping she couldn't use that as an excuse. For now she held her ground, though she was ready to leap to her friend's defense in an instant if necessary.

Frank stood between both girls, completely ignorant of their thoughts on the girl in front of him. Personally, he did not expect this pacification attempt to go very well. From what Chifuyu had told him about this ex-friend of his the idea that she would just accept his story at his word alone was about as likely as him figuring out how the IS cores worked in an afternoon. In a word, impossible.

He had to try though. The more friends he could gather here at school the easier it would be for him to train and learn how to be a pilot. Despite her anger, Frank knew that Rin was an extremely capable pilot. His memories of her performance in the training match sprung to mind as proof of her skill. He needed every ally he could grab, and that required being willing to overlook bad first impressions. Even if she didn't consider it one.

How long they stood there for Frank was not sure, but eventually the brown-haired girl recognized the situation she was in appeared to back down. "Okay Ichika. I guess you're telling the truth."

All three of the defenders felt their jaws drop at the sudden pronouncement. "Wait, what?"

"No, no, really, I believe you. I guess I just didn't want to hear it because of how weird it sounded. But I know it's not your fault. You didn't try to forget me after all. And besides," she said with a sickly sweet smile, "you won't be without me for long."

Frank felt all the color drain out of his face at that terrifying statement.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later Ichika. Bye for now." She gave them all a wave and skipped off down the hallway, leaving everyone at a loss for words.

Frank turned to his two friends, ashen faced and said, "Girls, I think my life is now in danger."

Houki and Cecilia shared a look and then started laughing so hard they had trouble standing up.

Frank's right eye twitched at the display and he said angrily, "Oh that's just great. I make two friends today and it turns out both of them couldn't care less about the fact that I now have a complete mad woman after me. That is so very encouraging."

The two girls struggled to control themselves but only ended up falling deeper into their hysterics. "I… Ichika, trust me on this. You don't need to worry about this too much," Houki said after having to slap herself back into control.

"That's right. She won't be too dangerous. At worst she may try to prank you every so often. Honestly this is the best we could have hoped for. It could have been far worse."

Frank knew what they were saying was true, but decided to pretend to ignore it, walking down the hall away from where Rin had disappeared. It took the girls a minute to catch up with him, as their laughter was slowing them down somewhat. When they got to the classroom it turned out that lunch was still on for another ten minutes. This gave Cecilia and Houki plenty of time to calm down. Frank was busy giving them the cold shoulder when they came out of their hysterics, though this lasted all of ten seconds after they'd both apologized. They all started discussing possible anti-prank strategies as they waited, the ideas getting more and more ridiculous as time went on. The topic of watermelons had just been breached when the rest of the class arrived and they went in.

When they got inside they all saw that the room was very different from the standard classroom. It was a large garage-like room, models of IS's in various states of assembly sitting all around the room. A loud gasp went up from most of the students when they saw that the teacher was a male.

"Oh for God's sake! Why is everyone always so shocked to see that I'm a male? I'm not a pilot. I'm not teaching you about piloting. I'm here to show you how your IS works and how to take care of it. So clearly I need not be a woman to do any of that. Are we clear?"

Frank instantly took a liking to the man. He had golden brown skin that could be either natural or tanned and dark brown hair that was matted heavily on his head. He spoke with a very slight Southwestern accent, clipping off his t's every so often. A pair of large glasses adorned his face which had small patches of data rolling down the sides. _Huh, guess Google Glass caught on after all_.

"My name is Jose Maxwell and I am the engineering professor here at the IS Academy. A little bit of background about me. I was an aeronautical engineering student in the middle of his second year when the IS came out. The new technology was so amazing that I canceled my major and came to Japan to study the Infinite Stratos system, and I've been here ever since."

"I'll be honest, I had never planned on teaching when I first came here. My plan was to be a researcher only, but the Board had other ideas. Lo and behold I was suddenly the engineering professor for the Academy. And to my surprise, I actually enjoyed teaching my students. So take note, this class will be as fun as you make it. Participation is the only grade I measure by. If you are paying attention and asking questions where necessary, I promise you that this class will teach you everything you need to know. I have been teaching here for nearly ten years, and never once have I had a complaint from a student who displayed diligence. You want to have fun? Then we'll have fun. Any questions?"

Fran was beginning to really like this guy. "You said that you have been studying the IS. Have you come up with any theories as to why males cannot receive an IS core?"

Maxwell turned and spotted his questioner, his eyes gleaming brightly behind his flashing lenses. "Ah yes. Mr. Orimura. Why am I not surprised you would ask that question? The answer, I'm afraid, is rather disappointing. After ten solid years of research into one of the most advanced systems humanity has ever created, the best I can get is… I have no clue."

Frank would have fallen to the floor had his friends not held him up. "Seriously? All that research and nothing popped up?" he asked in desperation.

Maxwell shook his head. "Nada. I have yet to find the specific cocktail of hallucinogens that Tabane must have been on to make these things, because I am damn sure no sane human mind could have created this madness. All of the other things that make up the mechs are easily explainable even with the use of quantum physics. But the core that runs in the center is a black box so dark that black holes envy it. Still, perhaps a solution is now available. If I could just figure out why you are exempt from the usual rule, then I might finally be able to allow the IS to be used by everyone."

Several of the girls started murmuring in amazement at the idea. Frank smiled at the professor and said, "I would be more than happy to help you with your research. On the condition that you never use any cutting tools on me."

Maxwell laughed and asked, "Does a plasma torch count?" Frank rolled his eyes and nodded. "Darn. Oh well. I'm sure several x-ray scans will be more than enough to get me started. Don't worry about any radiation poisoning. Your IS core will protect you from most of that. Just don't go hanging out in any nuclear reactor cores."

Frank turned green at the thought.

"Now then, let's take attendance." With a couple of eye blinks a projector flashed on the screen behind the professor with a list of the names of the class. He called them out in the familiar game of 'here' that Frank knew from his childhood. He paused though when he came to Houki's name. "Houki? I wasn't aware you were in my class this year."

"Hey Uncle Max."

"Uncle Max?" Frank voiced his question at the same time as several other students, unnerving him a bit.

Professor Maxwell pushed his glasses up by the bridge, shaking his head in mock annoyance. "Yes, I am unofficially Houki's 'Uncle'. During my research here at the Academy I have had several opportunities to work directly with Miss Tabane, even being invited to her secret lab every so often. A true honor."

Next to him Frank caught Houki shaking her head in disbelief out of the corner of his eye. She took over at that, saying, "I usually helped out my sister with her work, if only to have something to do, so Uncle Max and I had a lot of idle time together."

Maxwell smiled. "Ah, what can I say? She is a charming young lady. Since I was one of the few people allowed in the lab on a regular basis she liked to spend time with me. After she joked about me being old enough to be her uncle, which I am not by the way," he said throwing a glare at Houki, who merely smiled back at him with feigned ignorance, "Tabane heard about it and thought that it was, quote, 'The best idea ever!', unquote."

"So ever since then he'd pretty much been a part of the family." A chorus of comprehending 'OH's' echoed around the room, while Frank was silently pondering the strange arrangement.

"I still prefer to think of myself as a much older brother than uncle, but it's Tabane's wish so who am I to argue? Now, Miss Shinonono, I should warn you that just because you are like family to me does not mean you should take this class lightly."

"Oh come on Uncle Max. I already know most of what you're teaching us. I was there to help you learn most of it, wasn't I?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Maxwell deflated a bit and said, "Yes. Yes you were. Just… just be willing to help out your classmates if they're struggling okay."

"Sure. No problem."

The professor straightened and pushed up his glasses again. "Very well. Now, if there are no more extraneous circumstances meant to distract me." He threw several glances around the room, prompting several students to look as well. "Then we can get on with the lesson. Let us begin."

Over the course of the next few hours Frank was practically in love with this guy. _For his work. And nothing else. _The professor started off by explaining the fact that the Infinite Stratos mechs strictly followed the laws of physics, despite some myths to the contrary. It was the IS cores that caused all of the scientific controversy, and even the slightest progress into the in working of those enigmatic devices was subject to much scrutiny.

"For today," Maxwell said as he brought up a hologram blueprint of an IS, "we will be focusing on how exactly an IS flies. Now, for those of you who are more scientifically oriented you may be wondering how it is that a 12-foot tall suit of armor can fly with the same grace and speed as top of the line fighter jets. It is an excellent question, and one with a surprisingly simple answer. In short, the Infinite Stratos mechs counter one of the fundamental forces of the universe with the effects of another. Namely, magnetism."

He gestured at the blueprint, zooming in on a small portion of flat armor on one of the wings. "Under the skin of the IS are interlocking sets of semiconducting plates which are used both to power the electronics of the mech as well as provide it with flight. These semiconductors are constantly humming with electrical power while the IS is in use, generating very strong magnetic fields while active. The IS core, devilish little demi-god that it is, uses the mech's on board sensors to monitor the relative strength of the Earth's magnetic field and modifies the flow of electricity to control direction and movement. Though these plates are spread throughout the machine, the vast majority of them flight providing plates are concentrated in the wings, which is why mechs focused on speed and maneuverability have larger wings. The speed boost is somewhat offset by the lowered energy available for weaponry and increased size, but that's more of a problem for the designers than for us."

Frank did some quick mental calculations and realized that there was a problem with the theory. "But sir, wouldn't the power constraints be more than the semiconductors could handle? And also, the sheer amount of energy you would need ought to be impossible to generate."

The man smiled broadly and responded, "Those are great observations my boy. Ones which both do and don't have satisfying answers." He again turned to the blueprint, selecting a portion of the conductive plate and enhancing it. "You are correct in thinking that semiconductors would not be able to handle the power that goes through them. Silicon would basically melt the instant an IS tried to stand, let alone fly. But what makes these conductors special is that when they are active, they become superconductors."

Frank could only gape. A semiconducting superconductor? Was that even possible? When he voiced his question, Maxwell answered, "Oh yes, it is very possible. The technique was actually pioneered back in 2012, over three decades ago. A group of scientists right here in Japan developed a special material that allowed a high temperature superconductor, then exceedingly rare, to connect with a certain type of semiconductor. Due to some of the vagrancies of quantum physics the superconductor induced its qualities onto the semiconductor. The process was extremely expensive and impractical at the time, but by now it is far more manageable. Most modern supercomputers use the same technique to greatly enhance their computing power, and it suspected by many, myself included, that it is a key component in the IS cores. Though proving that theory to be true is proving to be a hell of a task."

"As for the question of where the energy comes from, that is… a bit harder to answer. The energy production of the IS cores is one of the endless mysteries surrounding those damnable constructs. The theory goes that it may be drawing its power from the dark energy that lies in the background of the entire universe. How it does so and how much it takes are at this point impossible to determine." When he saw Frank's blank expression he said, "Like I said, it's a black box."

He continued on with the lesson, showing graphics of IS's in flight with the hidden magnetic waves highlighted to show how they moved. By the end of the class Frank's mind was buzzing with possibilities and ideas. It was buzzing loud enough that he almost missed Houki calling him from the other direction. "Where are you going Ichika? The recreation halls are this way."

Frank rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Oh right. Whoops. Coming Houki."

He followed his two friends to the lower levels and was absolutely gob smacked at the wide variety of entertainment possibilities. He found himself wondering just how it was that any of the students got anything done with all these wonderful distractions just sitting ready for use at any time.

There was a large library, a theater with what Cecilia said was an HD projector for movie nights, an arcade outfitted with all the latest games (he expected to spend a lot of time there), and a café-slash-salon with dozens of small tables perfect for conversation between friends. Together the three of them wasted away the afternoon doing a mix of talking, playing, and hiding, mostly from the hordes of girls who wanted to get a look at him.

They separated when he felt the urge to relieve himself, promising to start his training in earnest the next day. He managed to find a boy's bathroom amazingly quickly. He guessed that there must be some male staff that clean and maintain the place while nobody was around. He had to idle there a while after he was spotted entering by a group of excitable first-years, but he was eventually about to sneak past them when they caught sight of Chifuyu walking down the hall. He beat a hasty retreat to the dorms, avoiding any further scrutiny by a mix of luck and… well just luck.

When he got to his room he dared a quick look up and down the hall. Thankfully no one was out and about so he could safely enter without anyone knowing where he slept. Frank opened the door and was greeted by a room that looked to be right out of a high end hotel. Two large beds lined one wall while a pair of nicely made desks sat opposite them. Another glance showed him that there were dressers lined on the sides of the desks, presumably with his clothes already packed within.

He was about plop down on the mattress and test out the sheets when a door to his left opened up, revealing a towel clad Houki walking out of the shower. Neither moved for a moment, unsure of what to say. Eventually Frank restored enough of his bodily functions to say in a deadpan, "Well. This is awkward."

The next thing he knew his head was heading towards the floor after being smacked from the side before he could react. "YOU JERK! How dare you just walk in here while I was taking a shower! Do you have any decency?" She stood over him fuming, but slacked a bit when she noticed that he hadn't moved. "Ichika? Ichika are you okay?" She reached down to shake him but noticed that one of his eyes was slightly open.

Frank saw her noticing this and said, "Are you still going to kill me?"

Houki sighed, her shoulders falling to their normal height as she responded, "No. I'm not going to kill you."

"Oh good. I was worried for a bit there." He stood, making sure to face away from Houki and edged his way past her to the far bed. "So, we're roommates then huh?" he said while keeping his back to her.

Houki let out another sigh and said, "Apparently." She quickly finished toweling off, throwing the occasional glance over her shoulder to make sure Ichika wasn't peaking. "It would have been nice if someone had let me know about this beforehand, but I guess it wasn't worth mentioning."

"Eh, it could be worse," Frank said as he looked out the window, admiring the city lights beyond the academy. "I could have been put with some girl that I didn't know at all. We both know how well that would have turned out."

A strong shudder was her only reaction as she finished wrapping her cloth belt around her waist. "Yeah. Can't imagine that would be fun. Alright I'm decent."

Frank held off on turning for a moment just in case she was testing him. When she coughed at his hesitation he rotated and saw Houki dressed in a billowy pajama looking kimono that Frank had never seen before. "Nice pajamas. You look good in them," he said sincerely.

She blushed slightly at the compliment but suddenly gained a fierce complexion as she said, "Okay, before we do anything else, we need to lay down some ground rules." She started putting up fingers as she spoke. "First, always knock before you come in so that neither of us surprises the other. Second, always say when you're using the bathroom, for obvious reasons. Third, we go to sleep together." She then realized what she'd just said and quickly backpedaled. "I mean we fall asleep together. Like, at the same time. That is … Oh I am messing this up so bad." She looked at Ichika to expecting him to be snickering and was shocked to see him already asleep. She sputtered at him for a moment but recognized that it was pointless and made her way to her own bed. "Good night Ichika. See you tomorrow."

Far away from the sleeping teens a meeting was being held. The area was dark, the lack of lighting aiding the need for secrecy by all involved. It was not a problem though, as none of the members of the meeting required sight for the current conversation.

"Is everyone present?" a baritone voice asked. Several affirmative beeps echoed in answer as everyone finished signing on. "Excellent. Let us begin. Is everyone fully up-to-date with the current situation regarding the new pilot attending the Academy?"

The beeps sounded off again before another voice, this one obviously female, lit up in the darkness. "May I ask, just how is it that a male was chosen as a pilot? I seem to recall previous attempts at the same thing all failed miserably. What's different in this case?"

"We're not sure," the first voice responded. "The data is inconclusive so far, though the hope is that our source will be able to provide us with more information soon. Until then, we shall have to accept the reality as is and plan accordingly. As such, does anyone think that these events will adversely affect the Plan?"

No one spoke. As unusual as this new pilot was, it was a minor issue in comparison to the group's goals, though everyone would undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on the lad. Just in case.

"Very well. If there are no other concerns then we shall switch focus to the main program. Project Meld is now on the table."


End file.
